In recent days it has been revealed that as Bishop of Pittsburgh, Cardinal Wuerl was aware of the abuse of minors that occurred in the Diocese, yet he remained silent and offered monetary incentives to clergy to lie about what they knew. 

As Bishop of Pittsburgh, Cardinal Wuerl did not act with moral courage to remove predator priests from public ministry. Decades later, his failure to lead has scandalized the Church.

Given the result of a two-year grand jury investigation into widespread sexual abuse of children within the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania, and the revelation of Cardinal Wuerl's systematic cover-up, we ask Pope Francis to remove him as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington. 

In this #MeToo era, it is unconscionable that a Cardinal who played a role in the conspiracy of silence and cover-up of clergy abuse of minors should remain in leadership. 

The Catholic Church in America is facing its own #MeToo moment. It is time to restore justice to the wounded and regain the trust of the faithful by removing all tainted clergy from positions of leadership in the Church.