Mr McCarrick, 88, who resigned from the Vatican's College of Cardinals in July, is the first cardinal ever to be defrocked for sex abuse. The pope accepted the resignations of several bishops in Chile last year after investigations revealed decades of sexual abuse by clergy in their dioceses. Retired Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano has accused Pope Francis of having ignored sexual assault accusations against Mr McCarrick for five years. Pope Francis subsequently promised a fresh investigation into Mr McCarrick, including using Vatican archives. Mr Vigano alleged that former popes Benedict and John Paul II, who made Mr McCarrick a cardinal in 2001, had taken part in the cover up.

Source: Daily Nation February 16, 2019 09:33 UTC