The archbishop of Boston says he didn't see a letter sent to his office in 2015 concerning another archbishop's possibly inappropriate behavior with seminarians.
Cardinal Sean O'Malley said Monday the letter was about now ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington.
Pope Francis ordered McCarrick removed from public ministry amid allegations he sexually abused a teenage altar boy and engaged in sexual misconduct with adult seminarians decades ago.
O'Malley says a pastor sent him the letter because he was president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. He says his priest secretary told the pastor a recommendation to review cases fell outside the commission's mandate.
O'Malley apologized to the pastor and to anyone whose concerns were reflected in the letter.
McCarrick has said he has "absolutely no recollection of this reported abuse" and believes in his innocence.
