Pope Francis has authorized a "thorough study" of Vatican archives into how a prominent American cardinal advanced through church ranks despite allegations that he slept with seminarians and young priests, the Vatican said Saturday. Depending on the scope of the investigation, Francis' actions may be found to have been inconsistent with what he now considers unacceptable behaviour. Seminarians wrote about concernsThe Vatican knew as early as 2000 that seminarians had complained about McCarrick pressuring them to sleep with him. Faced with a loss of credibility, U.S. bishops announced they wanted a full-scale Vatican investigation into how McCarrick was able to rise through the ranks, despite his misconduct. The Vatican statement Saturday made clear an investigation would take place.

Source: CBC News October 06, 2018 15:45 UTC