In Vatican Report, The Many Faces of Ted

And so, almost two years since the former cardinal-archbishop of Washington Theodore McCarrick became the highest-ranking cleric ever to be dismissed from orders amid serial credible reports of sexual abuse, the Holy See's report has finally arrived – the 449-page whopper was released this morning, underpinned by testimonies from 17 victims of the 90 year-old ex-prelate.

As no advance copies were circulated ahead of the 2pm Rome (8am ET) publish time – not even to practically any senior figures in either Rome or the US – the findings of the intense, exhaustive probe are just being absorbed across the board. Still, as for the major element in McCarrick's five-decade ascent, to repeat, if you're surprised, start paying attention.

Though it's not exactly the internet's strong-suit, with a product as sprawling as this, it's best to read it first and only react once one has... and as with any major Vatican document, but even more here, don't skip the footnotes.

Processing this will take a while. But for something of this gravity and scope, it deserves nothing less. Ergo, more in due course.

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