Kurt Martens, professor, canon law, was quoted in a Washington Post story about the precedence of punishment for sexual abuse cases among clergy. He was also referenced in an AP story and America Magazine.
... The Vatican said McCarrick will face a canonical trial, though it did not provide details about when the trial would be conducted. Kurt Martens, a professor of canon law at Catholic University, noted that the Catholic church has typically punished people by ordering them to conduct a life of “prayer and penance.” In McCarrick’s case, the Vatican has imposed that penalty before the trial has even started — raising pressure on the church to find a stronger form of punishment.
“Because you’re running out of options if you want to impose a further penalty,” Martens said. “I would not be surprised if he gets dismissed from the clerical state.” That would mean that after spending most of his life as a church leader, McCarrick would be defrocked entirely — becoming a lay person, not a Catholic priest. ...
Continue reading in The Washington Post.