A report in Friday’s Washington Examiner tells the story of George Zirwas, a predatory gay priest from Pittsburgh in the 1980s.

According to the Examiner, and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s landmark grand jury report on predatory Catholic clergy, Zirwas was part of a ring of predatory priests known for getting teenaged boys drunk and sexually abusing them.

The Examiner states that: “Even after the ring was exposed and Zirwas’s compatriots were put on trial in 1988, prosecutors couldn’t charge Zirwas with a crime, although multiple criminal activities of his had been reported to the Pittsburgh diocese.”

The new Pittsburgh bishop at that time, Donald Wuerl, was never suspected of any sexual abuse — certainly not in any cases involving Zirwas or a ring of predator priests. Examination of the evidence shows that all of the alleged reported incidents involving Zirwas happened before Wuerl was installed as head of the diocese where he served as bishop until 2006.

Examination of much of the record also indicates that Bishop Wuerl was as aggressive and cooperative as any contemporary religious leader in the prosecution of clergy sex abuse, including a 1988 prosecution that led to the felony convictions of three priests — Richard Zula, Robert Wolk and Francis Pucci. Zirwas was tried alongside the other three. He escaped conviction.

But Wuerl made mistakes in Pittsburgh. He has freely admitted to making mistakes. Among the biggest admissions was his allowing Zirwas to continue another six years in the priesthood and transferring him to other parishes, with four separate allegations of sexual impropriety in his personnel file and a known association with a convicted predatory sex ring. Two more allegations ultimately forced Wuerl to place Zirwas on a permanent leave of absence in 1994.

Wuerl’s tweeted message Friday morning, announcing that Pope Francis had accepted his resignation as cardinal of the Washington, D.C., Archdiocese, reflected a sense of Wuerl’s relief at having the burden lifted from him.

Wuerl, 78, submitted his resignation three years ago, a matter of routine for Catholic bishops on their 75th birthday that gives the pope discretion to replace them if they become too infirm to lead. For three years, Francis has ignored the resignation. Three weeks ago, Wuerl wrote Francis asking him again to accept it.

On Friday, the pope relented.

“You have sufficient elements to ‘justify’ your actions and distinguish between what it means to cover up crimes or not to deal with problems, and to commit some mistakes,” Francis responded. “However, your nobility has led you not to choose this way of defense. Of this, I am proud and thank you. ... you make clear the intent to put God’s Project first, before any kind of personal project, including what could be considered as good for the Church.”

This Sunday will be the last for scheduled Masses at some of the smaller Catholic churches including St. Alphonsus in Murrinsville, the result of a diocese-wide consolidation of parishes. St. Alphonsus member Donna Craig’s letter to the editor, published Thursday, reminds us that local people built these churches, raised their families there, married, christened and buried generations of loved ones since before the Civil War. Now they will stand by as these structures slump and crumble into disrepair.

There are fewer parishioners, fewer priests, fewer resources, a falling away among the faithful. While the trends of a shrinking church began long before the attorney general’s grand jury report was released this past summer, the onset of symptoms of a sick do coincide with reports of undisciplined, inattentive, self-indulgent clergy.

On the other hand, this could be a Gideon moment for the Catholic Church in America. In the famous Bible story, Gideon’s army of 82,000 is whittled down to 300 soldiers before God leads them to victory against the Midianites.

Ask any fruit farmer — pruning makes no sense until you do it. When done correctly, the cutting away of dead, diseased or excessive branching can dramatically rejuvenate the yield of an aging fruit tree. There’s a reason the founder of Christianity — Jesus — referred to himself as the vine and his father as the vinedresser.