Child abuse zero tolerance
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Wuerl has "a national reputation for zero tolerance of priests who molest minors."[39]Wuerl has been a strong advocate within the Catholic hierarchy for confronting sexual abuse more directly. In September 1988 when he was serving as Bishop of Pittsburgh, he accepted a dinner invitation from a family suing the diocese for sexual abuse by a priest. Although the diocese's lawyers had discouraged Wuerl from attending the dinner, Wuerl became convinced that sexual abuse was a problem in his diocese. Wuerl settled the lawsuit with the family, and the priest involved was laicized and eventually ended up in prison. Wuerl told his staff that in cases of alleged sexual abuse, the first concern should be for the victim, the second concern should be for the victim's family, and only third should clergy consider the reputation of the Church.[39]
In the years that followed, Wuerl investigated every priest in his diocese accused of sexual misconduct, and removed several. On one occasion, Wuerl successfully fought to laicize a priest whom the Vatican initially had protected.[39]
In 2010, Wuerl argued that the Church has made progress in confronting abusers. He told Fox News Sunday that "we have succeeded in guaranteeing that if a priest is accused, and there is a credible allegation, he is simply removed from the ministry. That is reported to the authorities, and we begin to try to heal whatever was damaged in that abuse."[40]
Religion and politics
In cases where politicians and officeholders take policy positions that are at odds with Church doctrine, Wuerl stated that the decision to provide communion should be decided on a case by case basis: "Our primary job is to teach and try to convince people. The tradition in our country has not been in the direction of refusing Communion, and I think it's served us well."[41] Reverend Thomas Reese explained this position by saying "[Wuerl is] quite orthodox theologically, but he doesn't like to play cop; he's not an authoritarian person."[41]In 2009, the D.C. City Council passed a same-sex marriage bill. In November 2009, Wuerl signed an ecumenical statement, known as the Manhattan Declaration, calling on evangelicals, Catholics and Orthodox not to comply with rules and laws permitting abortion, same-sex marriage and other practices that go against their religious consciences.[42] The Catholic Church teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman and that the extension of the civil definition of marriage to same-sex couples undermines the common good of society as a whole.[43] In the debate on the D.C. same-sex marriage bill, the Archdiocese of Washington advocated for religious liberty provisions that would protect the Church's ability to provide social services (i.e. adoption) in accordance with Catholic teaching on marriage.[44] After the Washington Post characterized the archdiocese as giving an "ultimatum" to the city[45] and the New York Times called it a "threat",[46] Wuerl wrote a letter to the Post stating there was "no threat or ultimatum to end services, just a simple recognition that the new requirements by the city for religious organizations to recognize same-sex marriages in their policies could restrict our ability to provide the same level of services as we do now."[47] In December 2009, on the day of the bill's passage, Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, a same-sex marriage advocacy organization, wrote that Wuerl had "refused to alter his official position" to reduce social services in the archdiocese.[48] On the same day the archdiocese, though expressing its view that the bill did not adequately protect religious liberty, nonetheless affirmed its commitment to serving the needs of the poor and its hope for "working in partnership with the District of Columbia consistent with the mission of the Catholic Church."[49] In February 2010 shortly before the law took effect, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington ended its foster care and public adoption programs rather than comply with the law's requirement that it license same-sex couples for the program.[50][51] The agency also modified its employee health care benefits to avoid having to extend coverage to same-sex couples.[52]
Response to Dominus Iesus
In 2000, the Vatican issued a document entitled Dominus Iesus which stated that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. Wuerl explained its meaning the following way: "When the document says that salvation comes through the Church it includes the Orthodox and Catholic churches...This says that we are all in some way, either through baptism or profession of the revelation of the word of God, related to each other. Those are elements of the true church that we share."[53]Response to Summorum pontificum
When on July 7, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI issued the motu proprio Summorum pontificum authorizing all Latin Church priests to celebrate Mass using either the Roman Missal as revised in 1969 or the 1962 edition, Wuerl said the Pope "is trying to reach out pastorally to those who feel an attraction to this form of the liturgy, and he is asking the pastors to be aware of and support their interest". He added that in his archdiocese the Tridentine Mass was already celebrated weekly in three places, with a total participation by about 500 people.[54] He had a circular sent to his priests about a special committee that he would establish "to assist pastors in evaluating and responding to requests for the regular and public celebration" of the 1962 form of Mass.As of 2015, the Tridentine Mass is celebrated weekly in three places, the same ones that existed in 2007, and the special committee never became operative.[55]
