Yep. Ridiculous. Creepy. And it's not like the school is a mile down the road or something, it's right. freaking. there.
To be honest I wondered this myself. These are highly educated men. Many with doctorates. The only answers I see are that this was: A. An oversight. Very hard to believe considering the gravity of the crisis he has caused. B. Bad judgement. If this is the case it is a case of the worst judgement I have ever seen. A 5th grader would make a better decision on where to put him. C. Indifference. "We don't really care what people are upset about." D. Arrogance. "You little people are causing problems. Take this." Are any of these options acceptable? In charity I have to assume it is A or B, but it boggles the mind at how inept the people who made this decision are. They will be their own downfall.
There's another option: that nobody else would take him in. Sometimes I feel uncomfortable with the baying for McCarrick's blood. He's 88 years old. His name has become synonymous with scandal. He has gone from being cock of the walk to untouchable. Whatever good he ever did in his life is tainted. From expecting to be mollycoddled with every whim indulged in his declining years to culminate in a funeral of pomp and ceremony, he is now regarded as the embodiment of the smoke of satan whose demise can't come soon enough for many who basked in his reflected glory. That must be like a living hell for a narcissistic, manipulative character. The victims deserve to see justice done. There's a vicious circle where the absence of justice fuels the lust for vengeance which in turn means that nothing short of blood and guts will be seen as justice. What a tragic situation. What form can justice take now? A civil trial resulting in imprisonment? Even if he lived to stand trial, I can't imagine a judge sending someone that age to prison. As someone not directly affected, I would consider justice for the Church to be served if he were to come clean on all his abuses and identify anyone who aided and abetted him as well as anyone whose clerical career he advanced because they shared his disdain for priestly vows and Church teaching on sexual morality and abuse of people to whom they have a duty of care. I would also want him to give details of any political or special interest groups he worked with to undermine, influence or change Church teaching or pastoral practice, including any collusion leading up to papal conclaves. That would satisfy me provided it came with a heartfelt and abject apology to all his victims. But what about McCarrick's victims? What would they consider to be justice served?
All McCarrick had to do was adhere to Pope Benedict's sanctions and lay low for the rest of his life, but no, his pride, arrogance, love of power/attention, and possibly greed got in the way. He really brought all this mess onto himself. Was he not embarrassed about his evil lifestyle being exposed back then? If my evil deeds had been laid bare, no one would be able to get me out of hiding. He on the other hand didn't seem to care who knew and actually seemed to flaunt it. The fact that he didn't to want live a life of penance back when he was sanctioned tells me that he's not truly sorry for what he did to all his victims. Regardless of age, bad actions should have a commensurate consequence. I personally don't think jail time would be cruel. It may be just the thing that he needs to kick his conscience into gear and finally understand the gravity of his evil deeds.
Who will send an 88 (probably 90 by the time any trial is finished) year old to prison? Do you know of any judge committing someone that age to prison? The only prison owned by the Church is in the Vatican. Do you honestly believe that McCarrick would be treated like a normal prisoner there? Living in the Vatican among his friends would be right up his alley. Of course McCarrick wasn't embarrassed. He didn't care. He was king pin in the US and had no respect for Pope Benedict. He had friends in high places, including US Presidents and the secular press. With the election of Pope Francis, his lifestyle was assured. For all the criticism Cardinal Dolan gets, had it not been for an investigation in his diocese, Cardinal McCarrick would still be strutting his stuff on the world stage. It's more than likely that McCarrick believed that the money he schmoozed out of rich Americans for distribution in the Third World cancelled out his sexual deviancy and abuse of authority. Some (many for all I know) abusers don't believe they are doing anything wrong. They believe that their victims, even children, welcome the abuse and are willing partners. They believe that the age of consent show be lowered or abolished altogether. Sick, twisted and morally bankrupt though that mindset is, such people do exist and McCarrick could be one of them. If that's the case, the greater evil was committed by the people who covered up for him or curried favour with him to advance their own careers. They knew what they were doing and it's they who should be going to prison. Unfortunately, anyone who believes that McCarrick's collaborators should be outed and punished is being labelled as the Great Accuser. I have seen a video of Fr. James Martin suggesting (he's too slippery to say it outright) that Church teaching on homosexual acts is not settled because homosexuals don't accept the teaching. McCarrick may well agree with Fr. Martin about "consenting adults" but he might stretch that belief to include minors. McCarrick is a symptom of a disease which has infected society and found its way into Christ's Church. People who believe that sexual morality means using a condom are not Catholic. Sadly, that's all sexual morality means to a great many in the Church, including laity, priests and bishops. The saddest part of this is that the filth won't be cleaned out. Those responsible for McCarrick and his ilk will blame it all on clericalism and celibacy. Clericalism is a catch-all term which can mean anything. Upcoming Synods will further undermine Church teaching on sexual morality and make celibacy optional. That has been their agenda for a very long time and they're right on course to seeing it completed. They're relying on those changes taking the attention of the secular press away from McCarrick. The response to Amoris Laetitia exposed the weakness of their opposition inside the Church. And it looks like their strategy will succeed. Another battle won by Satan. Thank God we know who wins the war. So, back to my original question: does anyone know what McCarrick's victims would consider to be justice? Remember that the vast majority of his victims were seminarians, some of whom may now be priests or even Bishops.
