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American Morning

Discussion with Archbishop Theodore McCarrick

Aired November 14, 2002 - 08:16   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We also want to take you right now to Washington, D.C., where the Roman Catholic bishops across America have essentially gotten together and revised, modified slightly the policy that came out of Dallas several months ago. And this policy will go a long way in determining how the diocese and archdiocese across the country will react to sexual abuse by priests.
From Washington now, the Archbishop there, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, is our guest this morning.

Good to see you again and good morning to you.

CARDINAL THEODORE MCCARRICK, ARCHBISHOP OF WASHINGTON: Good morning.

Good to be with you.

HEMMER: There has been, I don't mean to focus on the negative exclusively, but there has been a large outpouring from the laity within the Catholic Church over the past several months trying to gain footwork right now and to have a say on this policy as it goes forward. They are saying right now that their involvement is still not known enough.

Has the church listened to that and what will the church plan to do with that response?

MCCARRICK: I think the church has listened to it and I think that what is happening is that the lay people, who are very interested in this, and rightly so, because this whole thing is about the protection of children, that the lay people are listening to the media rather than listening to the bishops explain the document.

The document that we voted on and approved with extraordinary unan -- almost unanimity -- is a document that is very strong, that gives the lay people a very special role, that focuses on the protection of children, that focuses on the care of victims and that focuses on making sure that our Catholic people and everyone in the United States can be totally sure that the church is going to and is now handling this problem, that they will never have this trouble in the future again and that we're taking care of the problems of the past.

HEMMER: Right, Cardinal McCarrick, I apologize for the interruption. Do you believe the relationship between the members of the church and the priests themselves, including the bishops across- the-board, has come closer together to mend the fence that's been separated over the past year?

MCCARRICK: Yes, that's a beautiful question and I want to give you a very positive answer. I believe it has. I believe that any of our people who really have studied what has happened and any of our people who have really been careful about reading and seeing what is the new policy can really renew their trust in their priests and bishops and come together again to be the great church that the Catholic Church of the United States needs to be.

HEMMER: Boy, I think you said the one word that everybody wants to hang on throughout the church, and that's the element of trust.

MCCARRICK: Yes.

HEMMER: Going forward right now, as you look at the relationship as it continues to grow, there are other critics who -- I'll put a statement up on the screen just to clarify one response that we picked up out of the reaction in D.C.

It says, "In some cases, depending on the definition of sexual abuse, the circumstances and the amount of information, bishops will not be required by church law, called canon law, to report allegations to police."

Why not bring the police in on these matters and instead keep it internal?

MCCARRICK: Well, I think that they are not reading the documents. Again, as I said earlier, in Dallas we were very clear that we are obliged to report any information about sexual abuse that comes to us. It is not in the canonical norms but it is in the charter. And so we're bound by both. Canonically we're bound by the canonical norms, but in the charter, we bound ourselves in Dallas, and that still continues, to alert the authorities. And so if they don't find it in the one place, they should look in the other. It's still there. We haven't changed what we promised in Dallas. That's still, that, we put that in because, as that word trust is so important, because trust is important for us, too, and we want our people to trust us and we want to be able to trust everybody who's involved in this, that everything is on the table and we haven't changed our rules.

HEMMER: Yes, Cardinal, one of the principal tenets that came out of the Vatican in reaction to how the American church is dealing with this right now was trying to give priests due process. In other words, when they're falsely accused, give them a chance to defend themselves.

Does that come out of that awful experience in Chicago with Cardinal Bernadine being wrongly accused by Stephen Jones, I believe was the man's name, and then before he died he essentially came out and said I was wrong, I made it up in the first place? Is that the example that's hanging right now from the Vatican and reflected here in the church in America?

MCCARRICK: I think it is. I think the Vatican is so conscious of that and conscious of other times when there have been mistakes, not necessarily malicious, but mistakes and when people have said father so and so did this to somebody, did this. I think that it is important for us, because, basically because we're Americans and because we believe that you're innocent until you're proven guilty and that there should be a chance for a person to defend themselves.

I think that is one of the things that we do and the Vatican is happy that we're doing. It doesn't change the original promise that we made to take a man immediately out of public ministry once there's a credible accusation. But the Vatican is saying OK, do that and now do your good investigation or cooperate with the investigation of the police to make sure that there is going to be trust on every side, that the priests can trust. Because, you know, we have more than 98 1/2 percent of the priests in the United States are extraordinarily good, holy and hard working and balanced men. We don't want to let them think that we don't trust them and our people don't want us to do that, either.

HEMMER: Good luck going forward, OK?

MCCARRICK: Thank you very much. God bless you.

HEMMER: Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

Good to see you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 14, 2002 - 08:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We also want to take you right now to Washington, D.C., where the Roman Catholic bishops across America have essentially gotten together and revised, modified slightly the policy that came out of Dallas several months ago. And this policy will go a long way in determining how the diocese and archdiocese across the country will react to sexual abuse by priests.
From Washington now, the Archbishop there, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, is our guest this morning.

Good to see you again and good morning to you.

CARDINAL THEODORE MCCARRICK, ARCHBISHOP OF WASHINGTON: Good morning.

Good to be with you.

HEMMER: There has been, I don't mean to focus on the negative exclusively, but there has been a large outpouring from the laity within the Catholic Church over the past several months trying to gain footwork right now and to have a say on this policy as it goes forward. They are saying right now that their involvement is still not known enough.

Has the church listened to that and what will the church plan to do with that response?

MCCARRICK: I think the church has listened to it and I think that what is happening is that the lay people, who are very interested in this, and rightly so, because this whole thing is about the protection of children, that the lay people are listening to the media rather than listening to the bishops explain the document.

The document that we voted on and approved with extraordinary unan -- almost unanimity -- is a document that is very strong, that gives the lay people a very special role, that focuses on the protection of children, that focuses on the care of victims and that focuses on making sure that our Catholic people and everyone in the United States can be totally sure that the church is going to and is now handling this problem, that they will never have this trouble in the future again and that we're taking care of the problems of the past.

HEMMER: Right, Cardinal McCarrick, I apologize for the interruption. Do you believe the relationship between the members of the church and the priests themselves, including the bishops across- the-board, has come closer together to mend the fence that's been separated over the past year?

MCCARRICK: Yes, that's a beautiful question and I want to give you a very positive answer. I believe it has. I believe that any of our people who really have studied what has happened and any of our people who have really been careful about reading and seeing what is the new policy can really renew their trust in their priests and bishops and come together again to be the great church that the Catholic Church of the United States needs to be.

HEMMER: Boy, I think you said the one word that everybody wants to hang on throughout the church, and that's the element of trust.

MCCARRICK: Yes.

HEMMER: Going forward right now, as you look at the relationship as it continues to grow, there are other critics who -- I'll put a statement up on the screen just to clarify one response that we picked up out of the reaction in D.C.

It says, "In some cases, depending on the definition of sexual abuse, the circumstances and the amount of information, bishops will not be required by church law, called canon law, to report allegations to police."

Why not bring the police in on these matters and instead keep it internal?

MCCARRICK: Well, I think that they are not reading the documents. Again, as I said earlier, in Dallas we were very clear that we are obliged to report any information about sexual abuse that comes to us. It is not in the canonical norms but it is in the charter. And so we're bound by both. Canonically we're bound by the canonical norms, but in the charter, we bound ourselves in Dallas, and that still continues, to alert the authorities. And so if they don't find it in the one place, they should look in the other. It's still there. We haven't changed what we promised in Dallas. That's still, that, we put that in because, as that word trust is so important, because trust is important for us, too, and we want our people to trust us and we want to be able to trust everybody who's involved in this, that everything is on the table and we haven't changed our rules.

HEMMER: Yes, Cardinal, one of the principal tenets that came out of the Vatican in reaction to how the American church is dealing with this right now was trying to give priests due process. In other words, when they're falsely accused, give them a chance to defend themselves.

Does that come out of that awful experience in Chicago with Cardinal Bernadine being wrongly accused by Stephen Jones, I believe was the man's name, and then before he died he essentially came out and said I was wrong, I made it up in the first place? Is that the example that's hanging right now from the Vatican and reflected here in the church in America?

MCCARRICK: I think it is. I think the Vatican is so conscious of that and conscious of other times when there have been mistakes, not necessarily malicious, but mistakes and when people have said father so and so did this to somebody, did this. I think that it is important for us, because, basically because we're Americans and because we believe that you're innocent until you're proven guilty and that there should be a chance for a person to defend themselves.

I think that is one of the things that we do and the Vatican is happy that we're doing. It doesn't change the original promise that we made to take a man immediately out of public ministry once there's a credible accusation. But the Vatican is saying OK, do that and now do your good investigation or cooperate with the investigation of the police to make sure that there is going to be trust on every side, that the priests can trust. Because, you know, we have more than 98 1/2 percent of the priests in the United States are extraordinarily good, holy and hard working and balanced men. We don't want to let them think that we don't trust them and our people don't want us to do that, either.

HEMMER: Good luck going forward, OK?

MCCARRICK: Thank you very much. God bless you.

HEMMER: Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

Good to see you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com