Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, Vatican’s former ambassador to the United States has levelled serious allegations against Pope Francis of not only wilfully covering up sex abuse allegations against disgraced ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick for years, but also actively promoting him within the church hierarchy before accepting his resignation, NBC News has reported.

Theodore McCarrick finally resigned from the College of Cardinals last week after being accused of sexually abusing several children and adult seminarians over the past few decades.

The retired Vatican ambassador claims that senior Vatican officials knew as early as 2000 that the now disgraced McCarrick, regularly invited seminarians into his bed and abused them. Despite this knowledge, they elevated him as a cardinal.

He also alleged that Pope Francis, decided to rehabilitate McCarrick despite being provided information of his scandalous predilection for young seminarians in 2013.

These allegations were made in an 11-page J'accuse which was published on Sunday (26 August) by The National Catholic Register and LifeSiteNews.

The Vatican refused to comment on the specific allegations in the letter or confirm its authenticity. Pope Francis who was on tour to Ireland also declined to confirm or deny the claims, according to the Associated Press.