Cardinal Donald Wuerl has withdrawn from the World Meeting of Families in Dublin.
The Archbishop of Washington had been scheduled to give an address on Wednesday entitled “The Welfare of the Family is Decisive for the Future of the World".
The cardinal was heavily criticised in the Pennsylvania grand jury report, which suggested he had mishandled abuse cases while serving as Bishop of Pittsburgh from 1988 to 2006.
But he has strongly defended his record and has not given a reason for pulling out of the event in Dublin.
