BREAKING: Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick dies at 94

Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick arrives at Massachusetts’ Dedham District Courthouse for his arraignment, Sept. 3, 2021. / Credit: Andrew Bukuras/CNA

CNA Staff, Apr 4, 2025 / 15:47 pm (CNA).

Theodore McCarrick, the disgraced former cardinal and archbishop of Washington who spent decades moving in the highest circles in the Church and was later found guilty in a Vatican investigation of sexually abusing minors and adults, has died at age 94. 

A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington on Friday shared a statement with CNA in which Cardinal Robert McElroy confirmed McCarrick’s passing. McCarrick, who was reportedly suffering with dementia, had been living in a facility in rural Missouri. 

“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,” McElroy said. 

Ordained a priest in 1958, the New York-born McCarrick rose through the ranks of the American Church throughout the mid- to late-20th century. During his episcopal tenure he was an auxiliary bishop of New York, then led the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey; the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey; and later Washington, D.C.

He was a leading participant in the development of the 2002 Dallas Charter and the USCCB Essential Norms, which established procedures for handling allegations of sexual abuse concerning priests.

In 2018, reports of McCarrick’s abuse, grooming, and harassment of seminarians burst publicly onto the scene amid a nationwide reckoning on clerical sexual abuse. 

A Vatican investigation in 2019 found McCarrick guilty of numerous instances of sexual abuse, and Pope Francis laicized him in February of that year. The year after, the Vatican published a lengthy report on McCarrick examining in detail the “institutional knowledge and decision-making” regarding the former cardinal and how he continued to be promoted despite rumors of misconduct. 

In addition to the Vatican investigations, McCarrick faced numerous criminal charges. However, a Massachusetts state district judge ruled in 2023 that McCarrick was not competent to stand trial on the criminal sexual abuse charges brought against him. 

A criminal case against McCarrick in Wisconsin was suspended in January 2024 after a psychologist hired by the court found McCarrick was not competent to stand trial.

This is a developing story.