In a major escalation, a Philadelphia judge has ordered former Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua to testify in court in September about what he knows about child sex abuse cases in his archdiocese.
Irish American Monsignor William Lynn (60) who was Secretary for the Clergy, is facing trial on child endangerment charges arising out of transferring priests who later abused.
It is the first time that a priest not directly accused of molesting children, but facilitating moving suspected pedophiles around, has been tried.
Cardinal Bevilacqua is a key witness, but his lawyers have claimed that at 88 he is suffering from dementia and diminished memory.
Judge Teresa Armina has ordered him to attend a Sept 12th court hearing on the issue. Five defendants, four Catholic priests from the Philadelphia diocese and a former schoolteacher, have pleaded not guilty to the abuse, or allowing the abuse of altar boys.
At their hearing, four of the five defendants, excluding Fr. James Brennan (47), were present in court. He had asked to be excused having previously pleaded not guilty. He was charged with raping a 14-year-old boy at his Chester County apartment in 1996.
Rev. Charles Engelhardt (64), defrocked priest Edward Avery (68) and former Catholic schoolteacher Bernard Shero (48) are all charged with raping another boy from 1998 to 2000. When the ordeal began, the boy was only 10-years-old.
Monsignor William Lynn (60) made history by being the first Catholic official in the United States to be charged with endangering children by transferring accused priests instead of punishing them and removing them from their positions.
Speaking to Philly.com, Dan Bartley, the president of Voice of the Faithful, a Catholic church-reform group, said "The situation here in Philadelphia is deeply disturbing, and it's further proof that the bishops are incapable of protecting our children and policing themselves."
Bartley called on the church to stop fighting the two bills. If introduced, the bills would mean disciplinary action against church officials and employees of the church. It would also mean effective audits of priest's personnel files and also change in structure for victim assistance.
Speaking about Monsignor Lynn, Bartley said, "Any person - Catholic or non-Catholic - who reads the grand-jury report cannot be other than absolutely appalled by his behavior. “
READ MORE:
Clergy and nun joins protest against Philadelphia cardinal - VIDEO
21 Catholic priests suspended in Philadelphia over sexual abuse allegations
14 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Collette2 | Aug 10, 2011, 01:54 AM EDT
I wonder if this will open the door to othes around the world. There will be a few ducking for cover if it does and not before time.
patrickomalley | Aug 09, 2011, 12:46 PM EDT
If Cardinal Bevilacqua testifies, he will just lie. The Catholic church raped children, moved known pedophiles around, and lied about it. He will just lie again. What a horrible church. They have disgraced a great religion.
glorybe1929 | Aug 08, 2011, 12:31 PM EDT
You know we've been watching the Warren Jeffs trial and were APPALED BY WHAT "THEY DO". NOTHING, AS COMPARED TO WHAT THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS BEEN DOING SINCE THE MIDDLE OF THE FIRST CENTURY. THE DEVIL WANTS TO GET CHRISTIANS..ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. WE LET HIM DO IT BY BEING UNAWARE OF OUR GOD GIVEN RIGHTS TO QUESTION EVERYTHING THAT TAKES OUR FREE WILL AWAY. GOD DOESN'T EVEN DO THAT!
glorybe1929 | Aug 08, 2011, 12:24 PM EDT
Be on day and night watch for Belivacqua, as they will say he died before he could testify. Killing is nothing in the RCC. Babies they don't want born are aborted. Nuns, children etc., killed. Anyone testifying against the RCC will "get bumped off". Really!! Watch him carefully.
ritmomente | Aug 08, 2011, 09:29 AM EDT
FIRST grand jury investigation. The state is just as much to blame for not prosecuting.
ritmomente | Aug 08, 2011, 09:29 AM EDT
Ah, more New Yorkers thinking they have a pulse on Philly. If you had been paying attention, you'd ask yourself why Bevilacqua wasn't indicted in the FIRST
themurphia | Aug 07, 2011, 12:33 PM EDT
Pittsburghkid:It's what Orwell called 'doublethink' the ability to hold to diametrically opposed views at the same time...!
cillowen | Aug 07, 2011, 10:44 AM EDT
we equally need that strauss kahn's rabbi present. They be desperate to kill the orginazation of their reject son.
ellenfromcork | Aug 07, 2011, 10:36 AM EDT
Well said Aengus.
mamaginnty | Aug 07, 2011, 10:33 AM EDT
Well said Portia777.
AengusOg | Aug 07, 2011, 10:26 AM EDT
The Catholic Church has given itself a mortal wound and allowed it to fester and go untreated. The stench of death is upon it.
Portia777 | Aug 07, 2011, 09:42 AM EDT
More excuses. These boys in dresses claim to be answerable to "god"?? well, this is a great scam, because there is no sign of their god to say who he is. Anyone else claiming this kind of thing re unseen gods and voices are all safely locked away in mental homes. But you got to hand it to them, the brainwashing has worked for thousands of years.
colkelley | Aug 07, 2011, 09:38 AM EDT
Circle the wagons! Protect the Church at all cost - including throwing victims of pedophile priests to the wolves! Point in fact - pedophiles CANNOT be "cured" or treated successfully by any means known...not by long-term imprisonment, not by psychotherapy, not by electroconvulsive therapy, not by aversion therapy, and not by either chemical or physical castration - all of that is accepted fact by the psychological and psychiatric communities. The only ways to stop a pedophile are lifetime imprisonment or death. Part of the problem with the Catholic Church is that they failed and continue to fail to realize that pedophiles are careful planners who get themselves into positions giving them access to and responsibility for young children...young children whose reports of abuse are less likely to be believed because of the authority and respect the pedophile obtains by his position. These are not "good priests who developed emotional problems," they are scheming lifetime pedophiles and deserve every punishment the LAW (not the Church) allows.
Portia777 | Aug 07, 2011, 09:38 AM EDT
Cardinal Bevilacqua is a key witness, but his lawyers have claimed that at 88 he is suffering from dementia and diminished memory." Between the excuses of selective memory and false memory syndrome, these boys in dresses try anything to get away with their crimes against children. The do not even have the ba**s to take responsibility at this late stage.