Pope Francis has vowed to “uproot evil” after the publication of a damning Vatican investigation into decades of accusations of sexual misconduct by America’s once-top cardinal, Theodore McCarrick. Speaking at his weekly Wednesday audience in Rome, the pontiff bowed his head and said, “Yesterday, the report about the painful case of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was published. I renew my closeness to the victims of every abuse and the commitment of the Church to uproot this evil.” He then sat for several minutes in silent prayer. The report grew out of a Catholic Church investigation in 2018 into claims that McCarrick, now 90 and defrocked, sexually abused a minor in the 1970s. He had previously admitted to sharing a bed with young seminarians at his New Jersey beach house, but maintained the encounters were innocent, despite several of the victims giving details to the contrary.