Cardinal broke church and civil laws: abuse trial expert witness
In a landmark clerical abuse trial in Philadelphia, a cardinal's role in hiding evidence and shredding vital documents has come under the spotlight.
- United States
- April 16, 2012
Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua broke civil and church laws when he ordered aides in 1994 to shred a list identifying dozens of Philadelphia-area priests suspected of molesting children, an expert on canon law and clergy sex abuse testified on Thursday.
"That was like obstructing justice cubed," the Rev. Thomas P. Doyle told a Common Pleas Court jury. "He's got a list of men who may have abused children - and he's going to shred it?"
The assertion thrust the late cardinal squarely into the spotlight for the first time in the landmark child-sex-abuse and endangerment trial against his former secretary for clergy, Msgr. William J. Lynn.
And though an attorney for Lynn strove to paint Bevilacqua as a bossy micromanager who dictated how the Archdiocese of Philadelphia handled abuse cases, Doyle wouldn't give Lynn a pass.
He said the overriding purpose of the Catholic Church - including its clerics - was to be pastoral, be compassionate, and emulate Christ. "That's what the Church is about, and why priests exist," he said.
As a priest and canon lawyer, Doyle was the author of a groundbreaking 1985 study into sexual abuse by priests. He has since spent decades as a high-profile advocate for abuse victims.
Full Story: Witness: Bevilacqua broke civil and church laws
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
"That was like obstructing justice cubed," the Rev. Thomas P. Doyle told a Common Pleas Court jury. "He's got a list of men who may have abused children - and he's going to shred it?"
The assertion thrust the late cardinal squarely into the spotlight for the first time in the landmark child-sex-abuse and endangerment trial against his former secretary for clergy, Msgr. William J. Lynn.
And though an attorney for Lynn strove to paint Bevilacqua as a bossy micromanager who dictated how the Archdiocese of Philadelphia handled abuse cases, Doyle wouldn't give Lynn a pass.
He said the overriding purpose of the Catholic Church - including its clerics - was to be pastoral, be compassionate, and emulate Christ. "That's what the Church is about, and why priests exist," he said.
As a priest and canon lawyer, Doyle was the author of a groundbreaking 1985 study into sexual abuse by priests. He has since spent decades as a high-profile advocate for abuse victims.
Full Story: Witness: Bevilacqua broke civil and church laws
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
