Three weeks after a bombshell accusation of abuse cover-up against Pope Francis by an ex-papal ambassador, an element of that charge still remains an enigma: Were there, or were there not, secret restrictions on former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick imposed under Pope emeritus Benedict XVI?
It’s been a tough claim for some to swallow, given that there’s abundant evidence that McCarrick hardly behaved like a man under a cloud during the Benedict papacy - he was often seen with the pope, and even with Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, Francis’s accuser and, at the time, papal ambassador in the U.S.
While some are willing to confirm the sanctions sotto voce, no hard evidence has yet surfaced.

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2018/09/18/if-there-were-secret-sanctions-on-mccarrick-it-wouldnt-be-a-first/