Theodore E. McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington and the highest American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church to be accused of sexually abusing minors and seminarians — a charge that stripped him of his ministry, his place in the College of Cardinals and his priesthood, reducing him to the status of a layman — has died. He was 94.

Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, archbishop of Washington, confirmed the death in a statement, which provided no further details. A statement by the Vatican said he died on Thursday in Missouri, where he had been reported to be living.

The accusations against Cardinal McCarrick, who had helped shape many of his church’s policies for responding to its sexual abuse crisis, were shocking but hardly incredible when they came to light in 2018, after a church investigation concluded that he had molested a teenage altar server in 1971 and 1972 while he was monsignor in New York City. Thousands of priests before him had faced charges of abuse, and the church had paid victims hundreds of millions in settlements. In 2002, Cardinal Bernard F. Law, the archbishop of Boston and America’s senior prelate, resigned amid revelations that he had protected pedophile priests for years.

Although Cardinal McCarrick promptly resigned his ministry “at the direction of Pope Francis,” church officials said, he contended that he was innocent, saying he had no recollection of the reported abuse. He cooperated with the church’s inquiry and did not contest its findings. “I am sorry for the pain the person who brought the charges has gone through, as well as for the scandal such charges cause our people,” he said.

ImageCardinal McCarrick,9x999 center, attended a news conference at the Vatican in 2002 concluding a two-day meeting between Pope John Paul II and American cardinals. Cardinal James Francis Stafford was at left; Wilton Gregory, president of the United States Catholic Bishops’ Conference, was at right.Credit...Pier Paolo Cito/Associated Press

Other sexual misconduct allegations against him soon emerged. Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark said that during a McCarrick ministry in Metuchen, N.J., in the 1980s, when Cardinal McCarrick was bishop of the diocese there, three adults accused him of improprieties that led to two financial settlements. And former priests said he had had sexual contact with dozens of New Jersey seminarians, who called him “Uncle Ted.”

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.

Ms. Thomas may be different from legions of more fatalistic Mets fans, who brace for disaster on any given pitch. But maybe her time is finally here again.

Dr. Podwal, who chose dermatology as his specialty because it would give him time to pursue his art, began contributing to The Times’s opinion page when he was a resident at New York University Hospital (now NYU Langone Health). His first cartoon, published after the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, depicted a faceless Israeli runner, blood pouring from an abdominal wound, as he crosses under an ornate, undersize arch bearing words from the Kaddish, the Jewish mourner’s prayer.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

anonovopg

Already a subscriber? Log in.

Want all of The Times? Subscribe.vamojogar