Child molested by Cardinal McCarrick in confession

Associated Press (ap.org, Dec. 28, 2018); Seth Auberon (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

I did it for my sweet Jesus, and Mary forgives me, and Satan made me do it.

VATICAN CITY, Holy See - The Vatican's sexual abuse case against ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has expanded significantly after a man testified that the retired American archbishop sexually abused him for years starting when he was 11, including during confession.

James Grein testified Thursday in New York before the judicial vicar for the New York City archdiocese, who was asked by the Holy See [Vatican] to take his statement for the Vatican's canonical case, said Grein's attorney Patrick Noaker.

The testimony, which lasted about an hour, was difficult and stressful but Grein was proud to have done it, Noaker said.

"He wants his church back. He felt that in order to accomplish that end, he had to go in and testify here and tell them what happened, and give the church itself the chance to do the right thing," Noaker said in a telephone interview Friday.

Grein initially came forward in July after the New York archdiocese announced that a church investigation determined an allegation that McCarrick had groped another teenage altar boy in the 1970s was credible.

Grein's claims, first reported by The New York Times, are more serious. He has alleged that McCarrick first exposed himself to Grein when he was 11 and then sexually molested him for years thereafter.

Noaker said in the testimony Thursday, Grein also gave "chilling" details about alleged repeated incidents of groping during confession -- a serious canonical crime on top of the original offense of sexually abusing a minor. More