U.S. cardinal resigns amid sex abuse accusations

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the emeritus archbishop of Washington, D.C., following accusations of sexual abuse. The Vatican announced Saturday that Francis ordered McCarrick to a “life of prayer and penance” even before a church trial is held. A Catholic University canon law expert, Kurt Martens, noted this was the first time an order of penance and prayer had been issued before a church trial took place. McCarrick, now 88 years old, was one of the most prominent, best-known Catholic church officials in the United States. The church already removed him from public ministry on June 20, pending an investigation into accusations that he fondled a teenager more than 40 years ago in New York City. A man, who was 11 at the time of the first alleged instance of abuse, says a sexually abusive relationship continued for two more decades.