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WASHINGTON, D.C., August 30, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis has directed Cardinal Donald Wuerl to leave the United States “before being arrested” by authorities, Church Militant’s Michael Voris reported this evening.

The Washington, D.C. cardinal – successor to disgraced ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick – and former bishop of Pittsburgh, where a recent grand jury report says he helped shuffle around and cover for sex abuser priests, is in hiding while “final plans for sneaking him out of the country are executed,” Voris reported.

According to Voris, who says he received this information from reliable sources, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) may open up a RICO case against the Catholic Church. RICO, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, is a 1970 anti-organized crime, anti-racketeering law.

Because Wuerl would be a prime target of such a case, according to Voris, Pope Francis wants him out of the country lest he reveal “all he knows” because any potential DOJ case would lead to the Vatican.

“They are trying to sneak him out of the nation under Vatican diplomatic secrecy,” said Voris, noting Wuerl has backed out of a number of public events after the Pennsylvania news broke, and speculating he may be hiding at a hotel in the nation’s capital. Voris said priests of the archdiocese received a letter from Wuerl saying he was looking forward to seeing them during Labor Day weekend.

The report begins at 2:52 in the video:

This potential action from the federal government, which would be huge if undertaken, is due to the clergy sexual abuse crisis that has rocked the U.S. church with the release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report that exposed decades of clerical sex abuse and church cover-up. Also adding to the scandal is the recent detailed testimony of Archbishop Carlo Viganò, who says that Pope Francis and a number of high-ranking cardinals, bishops, and priests knew about McCarrick’s predation yet still placed him in positions of influence and allowed him access to seminarians. Viganò said in his testimony that Wuerl “lies shamelessly” in denying that he was aware of McCarrick’s abuse.

Rumors about Wuerl’s whereabouts have been flying in D.C. Catholic circles, with some speculating he may already be in Rome and others also mentioning Wuerl’s alleged upcoming meeting with priests.

Catholic author George Neumayr and a Washington Post journalist both showed up to an upscale Northwest D.C. house owned by the Archdiocese of Washington to try to find out if it is where McCarrick is. Neumayr filmed his confrontations with at least one diocesan employee outside and even managed to walk around the first floor of the house. The Washington Post reporter said her editors received a call complaining about her presence.

As of August 30 at 5:40 p.m. EST, there was no activity outside that house and its lights were off.

This is a developing story. LifeSiteNews will continue to provide updates.

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