Cardinal Dominique Mamberti

Photo: Alamy

Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura

Dioceses/Religious Orders: Diocese of Ajaccio

In February 2019, the Diocese of Trenton included Msgr. Joseph Punderson on its list of credibly accused offenders. Punderson had worked at the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura since 1993 and was Defender of the Bond (DOB) since 1995. The Diocese of Trenton stated that Punderson "was credibly accused in 2003 of the sexual abuse of a minor 26 years earlier," saying that after the diocese had informed the Holy See leading to Punderson submitting his resignation in 2004, “The Holy See, however, permitted him to continue in office but under specific restrictions regarding public acts of ministry initially imposed by the Diocese of Trenton in 2003." As the Defender of the Bond, Punderson was the number three official of the court headed by Mamberti since 2014.

When Mamberti was appointed secretary for Relations with States in 2006, McCarrick’s history of abuse was well known at senior levels of the Secretariat of State. Nevertheless, according to the Vatican Secretariat of State’s 2020 report, McCarrick was permitted to travel abroad representing the USCCB and United States Department of State and meeting with heads of state and government officials, writing “detailed reports regarding high-level meetings” to Mamberti and others. As the Vatican grew more fearful of McCarrick’s liabilities, Mamberti was one of several high-ranking officials tasked with limiting McCarrick’s travel and public appearances to avoid scandal and “adverse publicity.”