In a statement released on Saturday, the Vatican said that it would ban American Theodore McCarrick, 88, from practicing as a priest after he was found guilty in January of sexually abusing a teenager 50 years ago.
Pope Francis has approved the action as “definitive”, and McCarrick will not be allowed to appeal, the Vatican added.
McCarrick was stripped of his priesthood just days before an unprecedented global summit of bishops to discuss sexual abuse, which will take place from February 21 to 24.
He is the first ever cardinal to be defrocked for sexual abuse.
McCarrick had been one of the most prominent American cardinals on the global stage.
He was known for having sex with adult seminarians before being accused of sexually abusing at least one teenager.
A former archbishop emeritus of Washington, he was barred from practising as a priest in July 2018, after which he resigned his title of cardinal.
Senior US church officials said they had received three allegations of McCarrick’s sexual misconduct with adults decades ago, two of which resulted in settlements.
Other cardinals caught up in sex abuse scandals include Australian George Pell, who holds the number three position in the Vatican.
Pell faces prosecution in Australia for historical child sexual offences and has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Despite the charges laid against him, the 77-year-old remains in control of Vatican finances, the third most powerful position in the Roman Catholic Church.
