Shameful.
The conviction of Monsignor William Lynn on a single charge of endangering a child was rightly hailed as a significant victory by victims of abuse by priests and their advocates, who for years have complained that the Catholic Church itself was often complicit in the crimes. As secretary for clergy at the Philadelphia archdiocese, historically one of the most important in the country, Lynn was like many church administrators in that he knew the histories of abusive priests and yet did nothing to prevent them from preying on children.
The significance of the verdict in Philadelphia, however, does not end with Lynn’s conviction. Evidence produced in the case offers indisputable proof that Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, an ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church and the head of the Philadelphia Archdiocese from 1988 to 2003, was equally guilty of endangering children.
Bevilacqua, senile and suffering from cancer, died in January and was never formally charged. It is now beyond doubt that the cardinal knew of the existence of sexually abusive priests in his archdiocese and that in 1994 he ordered the shredding of a memo that listed 35 by name. Two weeks after his death, and on the eve of the trial, a copy of the memo that had been preserved in a locked safe surfaced.
The significance of this cannot be overstated. Bevilacqua had testified before two grand juries investigating sex abuse by priests in Philadelphia. “I saw no evidence at the time that we did any cover-up,” he said under oath at one point. His actions, now clearly revealed, amount to willful obstruction of justice. That one of those predatory priests on the list then went on to commit more abuse allows — at least in the court of public opinion — for a retrospective indictment of this one-time pillar of the American Catholic Church.
Indeed, a prosecutor in Lynn’s case at one point referred to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia as an “unindicted co-conspirator.” While Lynn was the only church administrator on trial, the evidence on which he was convicted left no doubt that the hierarchy, beginning with Bevilacqua, was greatly to blame for what happened.
Lynn’s conviction sent a clear message: Church administrators now know they will be held accountable for their actions. Bevilacqua himself may have been spared the ultimate judgment, but his legacy as an American prelate is forever tainted by his monumental failure.
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