(This article has been updated and clarified with more information.)
Theodore McCarrick – the former archbishop of Washington who resigned as a cardinal and was later dismissed from the priesthood following a Vatican investigation that found that he had engaged in abuse of minors and sexual misconduct with adults in other dioceses where he served before being appointed to Washington – died on April 3, 2025 at the age of 94.
Reacting to McCarrick’s death, Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, the archbishop of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, said in a statement on April 4: “Today I learned of the death of Theodore McCarrick, former archbishop of Washington. At this moment I am especially mindful of those who he harmed during the course of his priestly ministry. Through their enduring pain, may we remain steadfast in our prayers for them and for all victims of sexual abuse.”
McCarrick was the fifth archbishop of Washington, serving from 2001 until his retirement in 2006. Made a cardinal in February 2001, McCarrick resigned from that office in July 2018 after the Archdiocese of New York determined that allegations that McCarrick had abused a minor in that archdiocese decades earlier were credible. McCarrick was suspended from public ministry and ordered to withdraw from public life for prayer and penance. The Archdiocese of Washington has not received any allegations of abuse of minors against McCarrick during his tenure as archbishop of Washington.
McCarrick was dismissed from the priesthood in February 2019 at the conclusion of a canonical adjudication process by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that found McCarrick had sexually abused minors and engaged in sexual misconduct with adults.
Before being appointed archbishop of Washington, McCarrick served in his native New York as a priest and auxiliary bishop, and in New Jersey as bishop of Metuchen and archbishop of Newark. In his years as archbishop of Washington, then-Cardinal McCarrick advocated for expanding educational opportunities for children from low-income families and launched a capital campaign to provide an endowment for archdiocesan outreach and ministries.
In November 2020, the Vatican issued a report on how Church officials failed to investigate thoroughly and act on allegations about McCarrick before he was named the archbishop of Washington and then a cardinal.
Reacting to the Vatican’s report on McCarrick, Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory, then the archbishop of Washington, said the report detailed a “tragic chronicle” about that disgraced churchman’s “unconscionable human violation” and also “failures of competence, communications and culture” by Catholic Church leaders.
In his statement then, Cardinal Gregory said he felt “deep sorrow” for those victimized by McCarrick “who should have been able to rely on the ministers of Christ’s Church to protect and respect them.”
When the Vatican report was initially issued, Cardinal Gregory said, “By virtue of the simple fact that this investigation had to be conducted and this report had to be written, my heart hurts for all who will be shocked, saddened, scandalized and angered by the revelations contained therein.”
Cardinal Gregory – who served as Washington’s archbishop from 2019 until he retired from that position in January and Pope Francis named Cardinal McElroy as the new archbishop of Washington – in his November 2020 statement noted that the Vatican’s report did not have any revelations of sexual abuse or misconduct by McCarrick during that prelate’s tenure in Washington.
Cardinal Gregory promised that the “vigilance in the Archdiocese of Washington will continue – we will support the healing of those who have been harmed, our protocols for reporting and responding to these crimes will continue unabated and with renewed vigor, our safe environment efforts on behalf of those of every age will respect the very best practices possible.”
The Archdiocese of Washington has had a written policy in place for the protection of minors since 1986, which has been updated several times over the years. The current policy, known as the Safe Environment Policy for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Adults, traces its roots back to 2002 when the United States Catholic Bishops adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People and the Essential Norms for Diocesan/Eparchial Policies Dealing with Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests or Deacons. The Archdiocese of Washington’s current Safe Environment Policy, which was updated most recently in 2024, continues to implement the requirements of the Charter and Essential Norms. The Archdiocese requires background checks for all clergy and seminarians and all others who work with youth and vulnerable adults, mandates reporting of all allegations of suspected abuse to the civil authorities, provides for age-appropriate education and awareness programs for youth, and reinforces the Archdiocese’s commitment to offering pastoral care and assistance to survivors and their families.
