The McCarrick Report's provocative tale of a KGB meeting and an FBI request

An undercover KGB agent tried to befriend former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in the early 80s, prompting the FBI to ask the young up-and-coming clergyman to exploit this connection to thwart Soviet intelligence, according to the Vatican report on McCarrick released Tuesday.

The McCarrick Report of November 10 offers details of McCarrick's ecclesiastical career and the sexual abuse that his successful personality has helped to hide.

"In the early 80s, a KGB agent who enjoyed diplomatic cover as deputy head of the mission at the United Nations for the Soviet Union approached McCarrick, ostensibly to try to make friends with him," the report said. published by the Vatican on 10 November. "McCarrick, who was initially unaware that the diplomat was also a KGB agent, was contacted by FBI agents, who asked him to act as a counterintelligence resource with respect to KGB activities."

“Although McCarrick felt it was best to refuse such involvement (particularly because he was immersed in the organization of the new Diocese of Metuchen), the FBI persisted, contacting McCarrick again and encouraging him to allow the development of a relationship with the KGB agent. The report continued.

McCarrick had been auxiliary bishop of New York City and became the first bishop of the newly created diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey in 1981. He would become archbishop of Newark in 1986, then archbishop of Washington in 2001.

In January 1985 McCarrick reported the FBI's request "in detail" to the apostolic nuncio Pio Laghi, asking for the advice of the nuncio.

Laghi thought McCarrick 'shouldn't be negative' about serving as an FBI resource and described McCarrick in an inside note as someone who 'knows how to deal with these people and be cautious' and who was' wise enough to understand. and don't get caught, ”the report says.

The compilers of the McCarrick Report say the rest of the story is not known to them.

"It is unclear, however, whether McCarrick ultimately accepted the FBI's proposal, and no records reflect further contact with the KGB agent," the report said.

Former FBI Director Louis Freeh said in an interview cited in the report that he was not personally aware of the incident. However, he said McCarrick would be "a very high-value target for all (intelligence) services, but particularly for the Russians at the time."

The McCarrick Report cites Freeh's 2005 book, "My FBI: Bringing Down the Mafia, Investigating Bill Clinton, and Waging War on Terror," in which he described the "great efforts, prayers and true help of Cardinal John O ' Connor to dozens of FBI agents and their families, especially me. "

"Later, Cardinals McCarrick and Law continued this special ministry to the FBI family, which revered them both," says Freeh's book, referring to former Boston Archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law.

In the Cold War era, prominent Catholic leaders in the United States tended to strongly support the FBI for its work against communism. Cardinal Francis Spellman, who ordained McCarrick to the priesthood in 1958, was a well-known supporter of the FBI, as was Archbishop Fulton Sheen, whom McCarrick learned after Sheen's retirement from the Diocese of Syracuse in 1969.

Years after McCarrick's meeting with the KGB agent and requesting FBI assistance, McCarrick referred to anonymous FBI letters claiming he was involved in sexual misconduct. He denied these allegations, although his victims who later came forward indicated that he was sexually abusing boys and young men as early as 1970, as a priest in the archdiocese of New York.

The McCarrick report indicates that McCarrick would categorically deny the allegations, while seeking the help of law enforcement to answer them.

In 1992 and 1993 one or more unknown authors circulated anonymous letters to prominent Catholic bishops accusing McCarrick of sexual abuse. The letters did not mention specific victims or present any knowledge of a specific incident, although they did suggest that his "grandchildren" - the young people McCarrick often chose for special treatment - were potential victims, the McCarrick Report says.

An anonymous letter sent to Cardinal O'Connor, dated November 1, 1992, postmarked from Newark and addressed to the National Conference of Members of Catholic Bishops, claimed an imminent scandal over McCarrick's misconduct, which was allegedly "common knowledge in clerical and religious circles for years. " The letter stated that civil charges of "pedophilia or incest" were imminent regarding McCarrick's "overnight guests".

After O'Connor sent the letter to McCarrick, McCarrick indicated he was investigating.

"You may want to know that I shared (the letter) with some of our friends in the FBI to see if we can find out who is writing it," McCarrick told O'Connor in a November 21, 1992 response. a sick person and someone who has a lot of hate in their heart. "

An anonymous letter postmarked from Newark, dated February 24, 1993 and sent to O'Connor, accuses McCarrick of being a "cunning pedophile", without naming details, and also stating that this was known for decades by "authorities here and in Rome. . "

In a March 15, 1993 letter to O'Connor, McCarrick again cited his consultations with law enforcement.

"When the first letter arrived, after discussions with my vicar general and auxiliary bishops, we shared it with our friends from the FBI and local police," McCarrick said. “They predicted that the writer would strike again and that he or she was someone I might have offended or discredited in some way, but someone probably known to us. The second letter clearly supports this assumption “.

On the same day, McCarrick wrote to the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Agostino Cacciavillan, saying that anonymous letters "were attacking my reputation".

"These letters, which are supposedly written by the same person, are unsigned and obviously very annoying," he said. "On every occasion, I shared them with my auxiliary bishops and vicar general and with our friends from the FBI and local police."

The McCarrick report states that the anonymous letters "appear to have been viewed as defamatory attacks carried out for political or personal improper reasons" and have not led to any investigation.

When Pope John Paul II was considering whether to appoint McCarrick as Archbishop of Washington, Cacciavillan considered McCarrick's report on the allegations a point in McCarrick's favor. He specifically quoted the November 21, 1992 letter to O'Connor.

By 1999, Cardinal O'Connor had come to believe that McCarrick could be guilty of some kind of misconduct. He asked Pope John Paul II not to name McCarrick as O'Connor's successor in New York, citing allegations that McCarrick shared beds with seminarians, among other rumors and allegations.

The report describes McCarrick as an ambitious workaholic and shrewd personality, at ease in circles of influence and making contacts with political and religious leaders. He spoke several languages ​​and served in delegations to the Vatican, the US State Department and NGOs. Sometimes he accompanied Pope John Paul II on his travels.

The new Vatican report indicates that McCarrick's network included many law enforcement officials.

"During his time as Ordinary of the Archdiocese of Newark, McCarrick made numerous contacts in state and federal law enforcement," the Vatican report reads. Thomas E. Durkin, described as McCarrick's “well-connected New Jersey attorney,” helped McCarrick meet with the leaders of the New Jersey State Troopers and the head of the FBI in New Jersey.

A priest who previously served as a New Jersey police officer said McCarrick's relationship "was not atypical as relations between the Archdiocese and the Newark Police have historically been close and collaborative." McCarrick himself was "comfortable with law enforcement," according to the McCarrick report, which said his uncle was a captain in his police department and later headed a police academy.

As for McCarrick's meeting with an undercover KGB agent at the United Nations, the story is just one of many provocative incidents involving the influential clergyman.

Archbishop Dominic Bottino, a priest of the diocese of Camden, described an incident in a food hall in Newark in January 1990 in which McCarrick appeared to be asking for his help in obtaining inside information on bishop appointments in the United States

The then new Bishop of Camden James T. McHugh, the then Auxiliary Bishop John Mortimer Smith of Newark, McCarrick, and a young priest whose name Bottino did not remember attended a small dinner to celebrate McCarrick's consecration of Smith and McHugh as bishops. Bottino was surprised to learn that he was selected to become an attachment to the Holy See's Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations.

McCarrick, who appeared to have gotten drunk from drinking, told Bottino that the diplomatic bag of the Holy See's Permanent Observer mission regularly contained episcopal appointments for US dioceses.

"Putting his hand on Bottino's arm, McCarrick asked if he could 'count' on Bottino once he became the clerk to supply him with the information from the bag," the Vatican report said. “After Bottino stated that it looked like the material in the envelope should remain confidential, McCarrick patted him on the arm and replied, 'You're good. But I think I can count on you "."

Not long after this exchange, Bottino said, he saw McCarrick groping the groin area of ​​the young priest sitting next to him at the table. The young priest appeared "paralyzed" and "terrified". McHugh then abruptly stood up "in a kind of panic" and said he and Bottino had to leave, perhaps only 20 minutes after they arrived.

There is no evidence that Smith or McHugh reported the incident to any Holy See official, including the apostolic nuncio.