Our attorneys have been assisting the Orange County and Southern California communities for over 40 years.
On November 10, 2020, the Vatican released a 449-page report detailing the rise through the ranks of the Catholic church by Theodore E. McCarrick, a now resigned cardinal who was dismissed from the clergy in 2019, despite Pope John Paul II’s knowledge of allegations of sexual abuse against McCarrick. The report highlights the lengths that the hierarchy of the Catholic church, including the Pope, has taken in covering up the sexual abuse committed by its clergy. What is particularly shocking about the breadth of the coverup is that despite the knowledge of the alleged abuse, McCarrick was designated the Archbishop of Newark in 1986, became a cardinal in 2001, and then served as Archbishop of Washington, D.C., one of the most politically powerful Catholic dioceses.
While the Vatican’s report boasts that “No limit was placed on the examination of documents, the questioning of individuals or the expenditure of resources necessary to carry out the investigation,” the report epitomizes what the Catholic church has always done – kept investigations internal, amongst its own, to prevent any leakage of unfiltered information. While investigations were conducted on McCarrick before his rise to Archbishop of Washington, D.C., the Vatican’s report discovered that “three of the four American bishops provided inaccurate and incomplete information to the Holy See regarding McCarrick’s sexual conduct with young adults.” What the Vatican’s report also confirms is that the Catholic church was incapable of handling investigations into sexual abuse allegations for decades and even into the 21st century.
This report finds lies, coverups, and half-truths known by all, but turned a blind eye to, especially when the allegations involved one of their own. The sexual abuse attorneys at DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo are actively helping survivors investigate their cases of sexual abuse against the Catholic church. The firm has filed lawsuits across California and is participating in the ongoing coordinated lawsuits against dioceses in California. Call or email one of our clergy sexual abuse attorneys today to start your own investigation of your claim against the Catholic church.