Petition Seeks To Remove Cardinal Wuerl's Name From North Catholic H.S.

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Cardinal Donald Wuerl has come under fire after being accused of protecting child predators by the attorney general.

Now, an online petition is calling for his name to be removed from Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School.

By Thursday morning, more than 2,000 people had signed the petition on Change.org.

The Pittsburgh diocese has not said if it might consider changing the name.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro made the accusation in the wake of a scathing grand jury report regarding sex abuse in six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania.

"Child rape is rape, whether it occurred in the 1980s, '90s, or 2018," said Shapiro. "It is never acceptable, and it is never okay to cover it up as Bishop [David] Zubik did and as Cardinal Wuerl did."

Cardinal Wuerl, the former bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, addressed the allegations during Mass in Washington, D.C.

He said parishioners "need to be there for survivors" and asked for Mary's intervention for those "whose faith may be shaken."

Wuerl presided over 32 accused priests during his 18 years leading the Pittsburgh diocese.