(CNN) A letter from a top Vatican official appears to acknowledge that the Holy See knew about sexual abuse allegations against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick for at least several months before he was elevated to cardinal in 2001. The document, obtained by CNN, was first published Friday by Catholic News ServiceThe October 2006 letter was sent by then-Archbishop Leonardo Sandri at the Vatican secretariat of state during the papacy of Benedict XVI. It was written to a New York priest who told CNN that church leaders in Rome failed to act after he alerted them to McCarrick's alleged misconduct with seminarians. The New York priest, the Rev. Ramsey, who was on the seminary faculty at the time, said he doesn't have a copy of the earlier letter.

Source: CNN September 08, 2018 19:18 UTC