The Sex-Abuse Scandal Has Come for Pope Francis

A letter calling for his resignation shows how serious his crisis of credibility has become.

Pope Francis’s credibility has taken a major hit as the crisis over clergy sex abuse continues to roil the Catholic Church. Following weeks of horrifying revelations about the Church’s long-standing mismanagement of allegations against priests, the pope visited Ireland this weekend, asking forgiveness for a long list of “abuses” and “exploitation.” Reporters observed that crowds were nowhere near as large for Francis as they were for John Paul II, the last pope to visit Ireland. Protesters also called for more extensive apologies.

Then, toward the end of Francis’s trip, a prominent archbishop published a letter claiming the pope knew about—and covered up—the wrongdoings of Theodore McCarrick, the former cardinal of Washington who has been accused of sexually harassing adult seminarians and abusing a child over a period of years. Carlo Maria Viganò, the former representative of the Vatican in the United States, called on Francis to resign, along with other “cardinals and bishops who covered up McCarrick’s abuses.”

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Pope Keeps Silent on Abuse Claim Letter