Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., is not planning to step down after being accused of lying about the widespread abuse of children by priests during his tenure as archbishop of Pittsburgh.
On Sunday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro charged that Wuerl was "not telling the truth" about the abuse cases during his tenure from 1988-2006, sparking speculation that the cardinal would have to step down.
"His Eminence has no plans to resign," Chieko Noguchi, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington, told Newsmax on Sunday night.
Asked if Wuerl had spoken to Pope Francis about the mounting scandal, Noguchi declined to reply.
Earlier Sunday, rumors of a resignation were fueled by reports that Wuerl had moved up a meeting of his Priests Council from next week to this week. (The Priests Council is a group of pastors from the Archdiocese who regularly advise Wuerl in his capacity as archbishop.)
Noguchi explained that "the Priests Council has a regularly scheduled meeting with His Eminence and they just moved it up a week. That’s all there is to it."
A 900-page grand jury report in Pennsylvania has alleged that during his tenure as archbishop of Pittsburgh, Wuerl helped to cover up cases of predator priests and protected accused clergy.
In news that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church, the grand jury report details cases of more than 1,000 children abused by priests in Pennsylvania. The abuse was allegedly committed by 301 priests in six dioceses, including Pittsburgh, while Wuerl was archbishop.
When he turned 75 in November of 2015, Cardinal Wuerl submitted the required resignation as archbishop to Pope Francis. The Pope refused the resignation but could accept it at any time.
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