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PHILADELPHIA — A jury today found a former Philadelphia archdiocesan official guilty on one of two counts of child endangerment, but cleared him of the other as well as a conspiracy charge.
In a closely watched landmark case, Msgr. William Lynn, 61, the archdiocese’s secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004 and the most senior U.S. Church official to be criminally charged in an abuse case, was accused of knowingly placing minors in danger when he reassigned troubled priests to parishes where they would have access to children.
Msgr. Lynn faces three and a half to seven years in prison. His lawyer is expected to appeal.
A statement from the archdiocese released today said, "This has been a difficult time for all Catholics, especially victims of sexual abuse. The lessons of the last year have made our Church a more vigilant guardian of our people's safety. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is on a journey of reform and renewal that requires honesty and hope. We are committed to providing support and assistance to parishioners as they and the Church seek to more deeply understand sexual violence and to create an environment that is safe and welcoming to all, including past victims.
"The Archdiocese of Philadelphia offers a heartfelt apology to all victims of clergy sexual abuse. Now and in the future, the Church will continue to take vigorous steps to ensure safe church environments for all the faithful in Philadelphia."
The trial comes a decade after the 2002 clergy sex-abuse crisis, and it has been cited by U.S. groups representing victims to bolster their stance that the Church has continued to shield clerical predators. The headlines have stirred frustration in dioceses across the nation that have labored to implement the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, approved by the U.S. bishops to prevent future harm.
At the U.S. bishops’ meeting in Atlanta last week, Al Notzon, the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ National Review Board, told the conference that despite the near universal adoption of the charter’s guidelines, “[t]hose few cases that are not reported quickly become news.”
The high-profile case is the latest in a series of cascading crises that greeted Archbishop Charles Chaput, who was appointed to lead the archdiocese last year. On June 21, he announced that 18% of the archdiocese’s staff would be laid off to help address a $17-million deficit in its operating budget.
The trial commenced in March, and more than 60 witnesses were called. But a widely publicized videotaped deposition of the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia was never shown to the jury. The cardinal died in January.
The Common Pleas Court panel of seven men and five women spent 13 days in deliberation, occasionally requesting a review of testimony or a clarification of the criminal charges, and earlier this week reported that they were deadlocked on four of the five charges, before the judge sent them back for further deliberations.
A second archdiocesan priest, Father James Brennan, was also on trial, charged with attempted rape and one count of child endangerment dating back to 1996, when a 14-year-old boy visited his apartment. Father Brennan did not take the stand, a decision, experts suggested, that signaled the defense’s belief that the prosecution had failed to prove the rape charge. The jury deadlocked on the charges against Father Brennan.
The two priests were charged in the wake of an explosive 2011 grand jury report that led to the criminal indictments of three priests for child rape. It was the second grand jury report on clergy child abuse in Philadelphia; in 2005, another grand jury found that the local church had failed to protect minors from clerical predators.
The conspiracy charge against Msgr. Lynn alleged that he conspired with Edward Avery, a former priest, to endanger a child. In March, Avery pleaded guilty to conspiracy and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse involving a 14-year-old boy; he is serving a sentence.
The prosecution sought to prove that Msgr. Lynn had the power to protect children by removing abusive priests but failed to do so. The defense sought to establish that the defendant did not have that authority and was obliged to accommodate internal policies that focused on avoiding scandal and protecting the Church.
The defense and prosecution debated the intent of dozens of memos about troubled priests written by Msgr. Lynn, who testified that he had sought to protect minors and had removed priests. But, he asserted, he could not remove accused priests who did not admit to abusing a child. Only the cardinal, he stated, had that power.
During the trial, according to news reports, evidence included a memo written by Msgr. Lynn outlining his discussion with a victim who said he had been molested by a Catholic high-school teacher.
In his memo, Msgr. Lynn reported that he had informed the victim that others had already stepped forward to accuse the teacher. In the margin of the memo was a comment from the then-assistant vicar for administration: “Unnecessary statement,” read the comment. “Never admit to victims that there are other cases.”
Two abuse victims testified in the trial. One 47-year-old male victim, who had been abused by Avery as a teenager, received three letters in response to his accusations against the former priest from Msgr. Lynn and also met with the Church official.
The defense argued that the letters confirmed that the Church official took the accusations seriously and had Avery sent for treatment. Afterward, however, Msgr. Lynn then placed him in a parish where he allegedly continued to abuse the victim.
During the trial, news reports also covered the prosecution's disclosure of a secret list of 35 active archdiocesan priests credibly accused of child abuse or known to have harmed children. The list was compiiled by Msgr. Lynn in 1994, and was found in a church safe in February; the prosecution argued that Cardinal Bevilaqua had directed that the list be shredded, but some church official, possibly Msgr. Lynn, put a copy of the list in the safe.
The 2011 grand jury report alleged that 37 priests had been placed in parishes despite “substantial evidence of abuse.” Ultimately, Cardinal Justin Rigali, who succeeded Cardinal Bevilaqua, suspended 26 priests in the wake of the grand jury report.
Cardinal Rigali also initiated a reorganization of the archdiocese’s response to allegations of abuse and victim assistance and approved an intensive review of the allegations against the 26 priests.
On May 4, his successor, Archbishop Chaput, announced the fate of eight priests and expressed his hope that every case would be resolved soon.
Archbishop Chaput noted that “[s]ix of the 26 cases have not yet been cleared by law enforcement, so our own internal investigation has not begun. In two more of the 26 cases, we’ve just recently received clearance from law enforcement, and our internal investigation is now proceeding.”
The grand jury had accused the archdiocese of neglecting to follow its own procedures for responding to abuse allegations. At the May 4 press conference, Archbishop Chaput confirmed that each case has been reviewed by “a veteran Philadelphia child-abuse prosecutor, Mrs. Gina Maisto Smith, and a multidisciplinary team of recognized experts in the field of child protection.”
Those findings, he said, “were then studied by the reinvigorated Archdiocesan Review Board,” whose members had broad experience addressing the sexual abuse of minors from a variety of perspectives.
Joan Frawley Desmond is the Register’s senior editor.
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Pious Preachers Pray!
Inspired by Bill Maher’s interest in the truth about religion
With the heavens above and our hell here below,
We must listen to science so knowledge will grow.
Read Jude* and please study what I want you to know.
Ignorance, not the devil, is really man’s foe.
Holy men are now falling so get down on your knees.
It is time to face facts like the birds and the bees.
Abuse of holy power kills Christ by degrees!
We who guard innocents will get heaven’s keys!
Just looking for the devil manifests fear to face.
How could children be born without God’s grace?
To ignore true love brings Just People disgrace.
So listen pious preachers! Please reread and replace*.
Jude predicts licentiousness will make many frown.
Pious preachers pray stupidity will not take US down!
Pray that angels light the way to your true heavenly crown!
Then teach us how to treat all life with love and renown!
Love and Awe, Lora B
I’m sorry it’s come to this - I’m sorry it’s taken our secular society to put an end to the coverup. The facts are clear - there is no doubt Msgr Lynn endangered children under the direction of Cardinal Bevilacqua. Articles like this one that gloss over the sins committed by Fr. Brennan, Msgr. Lynn, and Cardinal Bevilacqua aren’t helpful.
“The trial comes a decade after the 2002 clergy sex-abuse crisis;” This is a misleading statement. The sex abuse crisis did not “happen” in 2002. It has been going on for decades, probably generations. Nor was it first exposed in 2012. Scandals had been erupting since the ‘80’s by the time the Geoghan/Shanley situations in Boston. The “crisis” of which you seem to be speaking is the crisis of the hierarchy not being able to keep a lid on it any longer. I say, thank God and Holy Spirit that the facts finally came out and the cleansing and repentance can now happen. Even so, we are decades away from putting it behind us.
Monsignor Lynn should have spoken up. However, the real blame in Philadelphia lay with Belivacqua. In his ignorance, arrogance and sense of entitlement, he accused the district attorney of “anti-Catholicism,” because he was being asked real questions about real crimes, and was not being accorded deference because of his miter. I’m sorry he died. He should have been at the defendant’s table in this trial.
IN A 24 HOUR PERIOD WE SEE CONVICTIONS OF lYNN AND SANDUSKY…A ‘CATHOLIC’ PROBLEM?
Jehovah’s Witnesses hit with $28 million sex abuse settlement,google it.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses have a policy within their religion that protects pedophiles.
The official policy is that the elders of the “Church” are supposed to handle the matter internally, without contacting the police. They do this so that shame will not be brought on the religion.
It’s important that they keep a squeaky clean image to the public. Remember they believe they are the only “True” religion and all other Christian Churches are under the control of Satan. JW’s are not supposed to sue other JW’s or involve the police or courts.
They believe these are Satan’s organizations and any crime by a JW should be dealt with internally.The elders will contact the police ONLY if they’re forced to by state law. Otherwise they are forced to follow official policy from headquarters. Some states require that “priests” or “pastors” report child abuse to the authorities. If they are not forced to report them than they cover it up.
You might actually get a unreported pedophile knocking on your door next time they show up peddling pamphlets and selling “Eternal Life”.
—
Danny Haszard *tell the truth don’t be afraid*
The “promise” of obedience that priests make upon their ordination to bishops & their successors, should be limited to how they teach the faith and where their ministry is to be. Instead, “obedience” has stunted the emotional growth of our ordained males, so they do what they’re told, forever, until they themselves are old enough to make the same (poor) decisions, carrying on the same misguided policies as their predecessors.
So what we have with Msgr. Lynn is a 61 year-old child, incapable of speaking up for what is godly. If a cardinal told him to do something (ungodly), his hands are still tied. He cannot say NO. He would make an awful father and husband in a family, because he lacks maturity, and is not a MAN.
One piece of good news in this article is the archdiocese spoke of PEOPLE being protected, not just CHILDREN. The most recent string of priests being outed for having sex outside of marriage is for sex with women, even for having fathered children, but not choosing to marry the mother, to become husbands & REAL fathers. Remember the Legionarie’s leadership admitted to knowing and keeping the secret of the high-profile priest that fathered a child? It was news just a few weeks ago.
While I too, wish Cardinal B would have lived to see the devastation he caused, I’m glad Msgr. Lynn will face jail time. If Rome decided the next step, based on how they handled Cardinal Law’s (mis)management of Boston, Lynn would be promoted and given a 6 figure annual allowance to spend in Rome.
Bishops do not make good decisions overall. Remember when Governor Frank Keating resigned from the National Review Board, as Chairman, he referred to the bishops as being “like the Mafia”? Another review board chairperson in San Francisco resigned in digust not long after, and he was hand-picked by Cardinal Levada, when he was archbishop of SF.
Clerical abuse has been going on for far too long - since the 1100’s, if memory serves, and not just 2% of priests and bishops being sexually active. The problem is not anywhere close to being solved. Rome and all the priests and bishops have known about this and they turn a blind eye. How about ALCOHOLIC priests? Too many to count.
We all need to wake up now: American bishops, & their ‘brother-bishops’ across the globe. Stop the madness. There will never be trust, without change. Everyone is wise to examine what we believe about our faith, and why.
Lynn will have lots of time to do that now. I hear Jeffrey Dahmer read the Bible in prison, and found Jesus. Maybe Monsignor Lynn will read the Bible too, and it will make a man out of him. Everyone can have redemption. Obey God, not men. It tells us that, in the Bible.
The Church has so seriously damaged so many people, endangering not only the well-being of children physically and emotionally. These scars are life long and every Christ loving individual should be well aware of what Christ said would be better for any who cause his little ones to sin. These predators have ruined souls. When the secular world its right in chastising the Church, why aren’t we doing everything to revive her Holiness? Where is the call for real penance?
Sexual abuse is a horrible thing, but it is a societal problem not a Catholic problem.
Moreover, here has been a terrible double standard in the media coverage of these abuse cases.
If the Philadelphia case had involved an administrator in a public school superintendent’s office, would this case have been national news? NO.
Present-day cases in the Church are very rare, while abuse in other institutions like public schools is widespread. Yet, the media continues to focuses on Church cases, most of which occurred decades ago.
Here are the troubling details of the double standard:
http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/1403/continuing_double_standards.aspx
To be fair, it is now time for the media to turn its focus to the people who were public school principals and superintendents 40 years ago and examine how they handled their abuse cases, which would have far outnumbered those in the Church.
My guess, given the societal view of abuse back then, is that they likely handled their cases in a similar way as the Church did.
I believe those victims deserve justice also.
@Mister h. Lynn became national news and will remain so because the church has stonewalled so much and denied they ever did anything wrong. Please do not bring up Public School teachers, Boy Scout leaders or anyone else. Secular officials are prosecuted by DA’s every week. The church and its Bishops, however, are high profile news and are held to a much higher standard—that of “men of God in line of St. Peter.” If someone in your family was a victim of parish priest, you’d surely be singing a different tune. Lynn’s primary defense was that he was “just following orders.” That didn’t work for German officers at the Nuremberg trials and it didn’t work for Lynn in Philadelphia. If Vatican II was all about “opening windows” and “letting fresh air into the church,” the next step should be to clean house of all these people and those who intentionally delayed justice. There would no doubt be fewer priests but the church would be the better for it. And not to worry, the church would survive very nicely since they would then have the integrity and respectability they have lost. No priest’s pledge of “obedience” to his Bishop or Cardinal should supersede doing the right and moral thing. Before being accountable to a Bishop or Cardinal, it seems a priest’s FIRST line of obedience is to the Lord. Lynn forget to ask himself, “What would Jesus do?” Jesus would have made the right decision by reporting the list to the police.
Could anyone explain why the newspapers and television never report cases of child abuse involving doctors,lawyers,teachers and even police?
Are there any situations where these professions don’t report cases of child abuse and simply move the offender? Is there only been one university in the United States in the last 20 years where there has been a Jerry Sandusky? Men with gay tendencies should with few exceptions should be kept out of the priesthhood.
Mr. h:
Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Mister H you really do have your head in the sand!!!
@Mister h - I agree sexual abuse is a societal problem, not a Catholic one. But the systematic coverup at the highest levels has really been the Catholic domain. If a public school administrator transferred a known abuser at the direction of the superintendent, the way Msgr. Lynn transferred a known abuser under the direction of Cardinal Bevilacqua, you bet it would be national news. Just look at the coverage Penn State is getting for not calling the cops on Sandusky. Meanwhile, Cardinal Law sits in Vatican City away from Boston prosecutors. The whitewash at the highest levels continues.
As an aside, I find the leading language of this article irksome. In our American system, people are not typically found innocent, they’re found “not guilty”. In this case, that verdict is correct. Msgr. Lynn didn’t conspire with anybody, although he knew full well what was going on and did cooperate in the evil. He was simply following orders - I believe he wanted to do the right thing but lacked the backbone to stand up to his boss. And all this transpired here in Philadelphia where we have not had near the homosexual priest problem other dioceses have had. I fear Philadelphia may be the tip of a very large iceberg.
Eileen- I believe you are right that Philly is the tip of the iceberg. I think the problem is systematic; the way your archdiocese was handled is the way ALL dioceses are handled, throughout the world.
In third world countries, they can get away with it, much like when I was a child, parents would say, “Because I said so.” but that does not work anymore. ]Here in the USA, they will have to be accountable. “It’s holy tradition” will no longer be an acceptable answer for much longer.
One thing that upsets me is I just learned the “Peter’s Pence” collection we took up yesterday is used, in part, to pay for the pope’s 120 Swiss Guards! I thought that fund was just limited to the Vatican’s charitable causes.
While the Swiss Guard is a nice tradition, why would it be needed today? 120 guards in full regalia! All the pomp and circumstance of it! If I were on the Vatican Budget Committee, that expense that hails from the middle ages would be among the first to be cut. Let’s all get real.
In this article, the priests that have been identified as perpetrators of child sexual molestation are distinguished as “troubled priests”. The adjective ‘troubled’ seems to be an inaccurate and misleading description of the situation that is being reported in this article. To learn, heal, and grow we need to acknowledge the reality of this situation. People who are diagnosed as ‘troubled’ are usually directed to therapy and a reliable support system. A fourteen year-old boy who has been sodomized by a priest (or anyone else) is the party who may accurately be described as ‘troubled’, not the priest. Support and therapy are not sufficient solutions for a grown man who sodomizes a 14 year-old boy. This is a violent crime. Let us ask ourselves “what is it that is going on here?” and let us challenge ourselves to honestly communicate the assessed reality no matter how ‘troubling’ the reality is.
Increasingly, the average parish Catholic is growing extremely frustrated. In the first few years following the Cardinal Law/Boston problems, we expected our Bishops to weed out these priests who have no business being near children. The Cardinal Law problems sent a clear messaged to other Church officials to not simply take measures (going forward) but to remove people who have been known or proven to be unfit. We expected our Bishops to do the RIGHT thing. Instead, most just sat on their hands and failed to remove such priests. Now, failing to remove these men away from school age children and parishes, more and more names are coming up in the news proving no action was taken. Our frustration is that we had an expectation the Bishops would be removing such priests in the wake of Boston scandal. The action needed by each diocese was two-fold. Yes, they implemented new changes to help prevent future cases of abuse, and that’s good. But they failed to remove priests who were known, proven or admitted to abuse. This is why Catholics don’t have any sympathy for Lynn in Philadelphia. Our frustration is that the Bishops have failed the expectations of the people they shepherd. They have one view of things while Catholics in pew see things totally different. We have lost a great measure of respect for the American Bishops.
Sadly, I came to the conclusion the way Cardinal Law, Cardinal Mahoney, and Cardinal Begalacua handled their priests was indeed the status quo.
Even Pope JPII did not allow an investigation into the case of Fr. Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, and as Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict allowed an investigation after he could no longer keep it from public scrutiny.
Most of the RECENT incidents of sexually active priests (and bishops, a la Bishop Zavala from Los Angeles, California) involve women, and priests fathering their children. Bishop Zavala admitted to fathering two children, reaching college age now, and his diocese is footing the bill to pay for their higher education. I hope the kids are intelligent and can go to Yale, or some very expensive university.
If spending money is the fear of most people in the pews, THE REASON why they cling to celibacy as a “gift” to everyone, then they should have to pay up, when bishops and priests father children out of wedlock.
With the constant stream of NEW cases of priests & bishops being removed due to sexual relationships with women, I think it’s not an anomoly. I think that too, is status quo, for way toooooo many of them. Lay people know, and they choose to look the other way. Well, the jig is coming up!
The piper is being paid.
People in the pews will begin to call for healthy, God-honoring change, and all we need to do is look to the Pastoral Letters Paul wrote to Timothy and to Titus, to see what to do. 75% of all our church problems will be solved. Maybe even more….........
I just read in the newspaper the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is placing for sale their “beachfront property” a “villa” used for retired priests to vacation. It is expected to fetch millions and the money will be used to pay for their clerical abuse fees.
Our church needs more accountabilty with money, and transparency with church governance. When will the jig be up? When is enough, enough?
Several years ago, I read about an elderly nun (92) that lived in a two-story walk up, with her order, and their roof leaked. Those ladies were on their own. I had to wonder how many boys they formed that became priests, and are those priests retiring in style? Common sense is needed. Our church lacks common sense.
By the way, my mention of the nuns is not to defend the modern-New Age-type nuns of today. They need to be reined in. We need Orthodox nuns teaching. Let’s keep it to the Deposit of Faith, best found in the Apostles Creed / Nicene Creed. That matters. That is important.
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