Cardinal Wuerl needs to resign. Sign the petition here.
August 20, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) — Ave Maria Press is “indefinitely” postponing the publication of Cardinal Donald Wuerl’s book on the Catholic faith in the wake of the Pennsylvania grand jury report implicating him in sex-abuse cover-ups as bishop of Pittsburgh.
Moreover, the book’s “unfortunate” and “ironic” title has not escaped notice of Wuerl’s critics.
Called “What Do You Want to Know?: A Pastor’s Response to the Most Challenging Question about the Catholic Faith,” the book has a foreword by Cardinal Daniel Dinardo of Galveston-Houston, and was to be released October 5, 2018.
The current archbishop of Washington and successor of now-disgraced ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Wuerl’s name is mentioned 206 times in the grand jury report. The report documents that Wuerl knew about predatory priests and shuffled them to different dioceses.
“We didn’t feel it was appropriate to release the book at this time,” said Stephanie Sibal, senior publicist for Ave Maria Press, an Indiana-based apostolate of the Congregation of Holy Cross.
“Cardinal Wuerl's book has been postponed indefinitely,” she told LifeSiteNews in an email.
Rod Dreher, blogger at the The American Conservative, broke the news Friday on Twitter:
BREAKING: In light of the scandal, publisher cancels Cardinal Wuerl's forthcoming book. Screenshot sent to me by a bookseller. pic.twitter.com/vwCNJqogcE
— Rod Dreher (@roddreher) August 17, 2018
That prompted a barrage of Tweets aimed at the book’s title, including this:
It would have needed a massive rewrite anyway since the title became a sick punchline.
— Manfred Arcane (@ManfredArcane) August 17, 2018
Other Twitter users weighed in with the following:
That's a shame, because I would have liked to know how he sleeps at night.
— Jeff B. (@EsotericCD) August 17, 2018
Just when I know EXACTLY what I want to ask him…
— noclownquestion (@noclownquestion) August 17, 2018
The book was entitled, “What do you Want to Know?”
What I want to know is: What did Cardinals Wuerl, Tobin, and Farrell know about +McCarrick's abuse of seminarians and what did they do about it?
— Patrick O'Boyle (@PatrickOBoyle67) August 17, 2018
In what other organization could someone commit the crimes he has and not immediately step down upon being exposed. That's what I want to know.
— Adam Yates (@adamy8sa) August 17, 2018
What I want to know: when did the works of mercy get edited to omit “bear wrongs patiently” and replace it with “spin like crazy to protect your own reputation”?
— DenverGregg (@DenverGregg) August 18, 2018
Enterprising Tweeter John Siegmund pointed out that “According to Amazon, the Cardinal has another new book (from a different publisher) dropping September 1. The title is ‘Setting the Church on Fire’.”
LifeSiteNews contacted publisher Word Among Us Press to enquire about “Setting the Church on Fire,” which is listed as “not yet published” on its website, but did not hear back by deadline.
Cardinal Wuerl needs to resign. Sign the petition here.
Wuerl has been under fire since the release of the grand jury report, and is facing widespread calls to resign, including a petition by LifeSiteNews, but so far he has said he is staying.
He did, however, pull out of a keynote address at this week’s Vatican-run World Meeting of Families in Dublin, Ireland.
Moreover, since Wuerl submitted his resignation more than two years when he turned 75, and Pope Francis did not accept it, observers say only the pope can force Wuerl to resign at this time.
Meanwhile, the board of directors of Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School near Pittsburgh is considering changing the school’s name, in light of a petition signed by 6,772 people and counting.
The school’s sign was vandalized over the weekend, with Wuerl’s name covered with red paint.