Georgetown University announced Tuesday it has rescinded the honorary degree given to Theodore McCarrick in 2004 when he was a cardinal of the Catholic Church and archbishop of Washington and long before he fell into disgrace.
It was the first time in Georgetown’s history that the Jesuit university in the District has rescinded an honorary degree. Founded in 1789, Georgetown has about 19,000 students and is one of the nation’s most prestigious Catholic schools.
John J. DeGioia, Georgetown’s president, called the revocation of McCarrick’s honorary degree “an important step for us to take at this moment.”
In a letter to the university, DeGioia reiterated a message he had conveyed in September after allegations about McCarrick’s conduct surfaced: that Georgetown has a responsibility to promote “a culture of safeguarding vulnerable people.”
DeGioia said the university’s board of directors approved the action.
“There is more that is required of us in this moment,” DeGioia wrote. “We are called to forge a new culture, to create a context in which the most vulnerable among us will be safe and protected, to create a context in which the abuse of power can be identified and eliminated.”
McCarrick, 88, was archbishop of Washington from 2001 to 2006 and long an influential figure among the city’s power brokers. He was suspended from ministry last year and resigned the position of cardinal in July after allegations surfaced that he had sexually abused adults and minors for decades.
A church inquiry in January found McCarrick guilty of soliciting sex during confession and committing sins with minors and adults “with the aggravating factor of the abuse of power.”
McCarrick has been living in a friary in Kansas for the past several months.