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CINCINNATI, Ohio, September 7, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) — The archbishop of Cincinnati has called for the Vatican’s dossier on McCarrick to be opened so that Archbishop Viganò’s allegations can be verified.
Appearing on Holy Spirit Radio at the end of August, Archbishop Dennis Schnurr told Annie Mitchell of the SonRise Morning Show that without looking at the documents in the case, the bishops are left with a “he said – she said situation.”
“It seems to me that the only way to get to the bottom of the entire situation is to open the McCarrick file,” Schnurr said. “There’s got to be files … within Washington DC and at the Vatican on all of this correspondence.”
“Archbishop Viganò mentions a few of the documents,” he continued, “but again his testimony is based on his recollection. Others are saying ‘This is not our recollection.’ The only way to get to the facts is to look at the file, and I hope and pray that the file is opened.”
“I see no other way to get to the bottom of this very painful, this very sad situation.”
As its Treasurer, Archbishop Schnurr is on the executive committee of the United States Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). He told Mitchell that Cardinal DiNardo had written his statement about Viganò’s allegation on behalf of the whole executive, and that the executive committee had said, “The only way to resolve this is to open the McCarrick file.”
“Cardinal DiNardo intends to go to Rome and talk to the Holy Father,” Schnurr revealed. “I know also that Cardinal O’Malley, who is the Holy Father’s agent for dealing with sexual abuse in the Church… has offered to go with Cardinal DiNardo and [that] the two of them meet with the Holy Father.”
The archbishop said that to the best of his knowledge that there had not yet been a response from the Holy Father, but that this was probably because the Vatican closes down in August for the annual Ferragosto holiday.
“They don’t get back to business until September,” he explained.
Apparently there is opposition to Schnurr’s desire for the McCarrick file to be opened. Schnurr told the radio host:
“I was speaking to one individual [about opening the file], and the individual said to me, ‘Well, why? This is all behind us. What good is that going to do?’ I said to them, “Behind us? There are victims today. They’re a part of the Church today… Moreover, those who don’t learn from the past repeat the past.”
The archbishop said that the Church has to find out what went wrong, who failed and why they failed.
“The only way to get to that, it seems to me,” said Schnurr, “is to open the file of the McCarrick case.”
Archbishop Schnurr has been steadfast in his support for the Gospel of Life. He has led prayers outside a Nebraska Planned Parenthood on more than one occasion and, this March, warned his clergy against an LGBT speaking event featuring activists Fr. James Martin and Sister Jeanne Gramick.
Listen to Archbishop Schnurr's comments below: