BOSTON (WHDH) - A former New Jersey priest is asking Cardinal Sean O’Malley to come clean regarding what he knew about a former archbishop accused of sexual abuse.
“We are here today to ask Cardinal Sean O’Malley to please come clean, tell us what you know, and be honest and truthful about each and every aspect of it,” Robert Hoatson said at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston on Sunday.
“We cannot accept anything less.”
Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop Hoatson is referring to, was removed after many came forward with sexual abuse allegations against him.
Hoatson, a former priest of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, claims O’Malley received a letter in 2015 that detailed the sexual abuse, which allegedly took place over the span of three decades during his time as a bishop and archbishop in New Jersey, but did nothing.
When the allegations became public in July, O’Malley issued a statement condemning the behavior.
“These alleged actions, when committed by any person, are morally unacceptable and incompatible with the role of a priest, bishop or cardinal,” O’Malley said in a statement. “I am deeply troubled by these reports that have traumatized many Catholics and members of the wider community.”
The allegations come as the Catholic Church is facing another scandal.
The Church came under fire last week in Pennsylvania after a grand jury released a scathing report detailing allegations of sex abuse by more than 300 priests against 1,000 children.
One victim recalls a priest inappropriately touching her many times.
“I was told by numerous priests and nuns that if I was to say anything to anybody, that I would go down the drain,” said Heather Taylor, an alleged abuse victim.
Last Friday, the Vatican called the accusations, “criminal and morally reprehensible.”
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