Cdl. Wuerl Refusing to Step Down, Proposes ‘Season of Healing’

On Aug. 30, Wuerl asked "for forgiveness for my errors in judgment, for my inadequacies, and also for your acceptance of my contrition for any suffering I have caused," but that sentiment is nowhere to be found in his latest letter.

He gives the purpose of the "season of healing" as "an invitation for parishes and parishioners to come together in prayer, to give voice to the pain and suffering of the survivors of clergy sexual abuse, while also recognizing the pain and wound of the whole Church."

It's scheduled to begin on Sept. 14, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and continue each consecutive Friday for six weeks.

Many people, however, are demanding Wuerl step down after it was revealed in the Pennsylvania grand jury report that he was complicit in the cover-up of sex abuse as bishop of Pittsburgh. Since the Aug. 14 release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report, nearly 70,000 people have signed a petition demanding Wuerl's ouster.

Sheltering a Predator Priest in Washington, D.C.

Neumayr also revealed proof that Wuerl is currently covering for a homosexual abuser priest in his archdiocese.

Betasso, whose legal name is Patrick Anthony Betassio, was arrested in Milwaukee in 2011 for groping an 18-year-old male in a hot tub. Although he was suspended from the Carmelites, he is currently with the Carmelites in Washington, D.C., where he still preaches. Neumayr reports the archdiocese knows about Betassio's past but has not acted to remove him.

Wuerl's latest actions imply that despite the outrage at his sex abuse cover-up, he is not resigning, but instead digging in his heels and hoping to ride out the storm. It remains to be seen whether faithful Catholics will tolerate this posture.