Donald Wuerl Lied (Thus Spake The Tribune Review Editorial Board)

Let's start here, at The Washington Post:

Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl knew of sexual misconduct allegations against ex-cardinal Theodore McCarrick and reported them to the Vatican in 2004, church officials confirmed Thursday evening, despite portraying himself since last summer as unaware of any complaints surrounding McCarrick.

Robert Ciolek, a former priest who reached a settlement with the church in 2005 after accusing clerics including McCarrick, told The Post he recently learned that the Pittsburgh Diocese has a file that shows that Wuerl was aware of his allegations against McCarrick. The file includes documentation that Wuerl, who was bishop of Pittsburgh at the time, shared the information with then-Vatican ambassador Gabriel Montalvo.

The content of the document, which Ciolek told The Post he saw in December, clashes sharply with Wuerl’s public statements about McCarrick since the older cleric was suspended in June due to a complaint that he groped an altar boy decades ago.

And now some commentary on Cardinal Wuerl from The Tribune-Review editorial board:

He lied.

I guess I should probably give you more of the Trib's context regarding all the lying:

“There have also been numerous stories or blog posts that repeated long-standing rumors or innuendos that may be out there regarding Archbishop McCarrick. ...In the past month, I have seen some of those now public reports. But in my years here in Washington and even before that, I had not heard them,” Wuerl told the Catholic Standard in July 2018.

And that is a lie. He knew while Pittsburgh’s bishop. He knew because he reported to Gabriel Montalvo, then the Vatican ambassador, about the victim, Robert Ciolek, who told the Washington Post he recently learned the Pittsburgh diocese has a file with Wuerl’s account of that exchange, accompanied by the bishop’s initials.

The Trib editorial board says:

But now we know the former bishop of Pittsburgh didn’t just commit sins of omission. Now we know that he took a commandment and snapped it like a twig.

It was number 9. “Thou shalt not bear false witness.”

Interestingly, they kinda get the numbering wrong. According to The Vatican (and there can be no higher authority on Catholicism than The Vatican), "bearing false witness" is the Eighth Commandment not the ninth.

I realize that The Vatican's numbering of The Commandments is not at all catholic (small "c" - look it up) but wouldn't it just make sense to use The Holy See's numbering system when discussing a Catholic topic?

Anyway, I digress - couldn't help it.

As I wrote back in August, there's another wrinkle to this story. While Wuerl was lying about the raping priests, he was lecturing the rest of us (Catholic and non-Catholic alike) about sex.

For example in this Pastoral Letter he wrote:

The attempt to recast human sexuality as casual and entirely recreational has led to an untold weakening of and continued assault on marriage and family life.

And:

It has become increasingly acceptable – in the media, academia, and even the courts – to disparage as bigoted and mean-spirited anyone who seeks to uphold fundamental truths about the human person that have been recognized throughout history.

And:

An aggressive secularism and relativism assert a new morality. Those views that do not follow the new “moral” order are effectively “outlawed.” Anyone who challenges the new order as false is branded as “intolerant” and pressured to remain silent.

This from the guy who lied about the cardinal's sexual assaults.