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Follow on Google News | Voice of the Faithful Agrees Conspiracy Memo in Priests' Case "Shocking"A newly discovered memo proves Philadelphia archdiocese engaged in a conspiracy to cover up clergy sexual abuse and Voice of the Faithful’s contention Church hierarchy have covered up abuse to protect the Church over children.
According to media reports of court documents submitted by the archdiocese’ The lawyers are defending Msgr. William Lynn, who has been charged with child endangerment for covering up clergy sexual abuse and transferring abusive priests from parish to parish while in charge of archdiocesan priest assignments. Media reports of lawyers’ arguments during jury selection said Lynn compiled a list of 35 abusive priests in 1992. Lynn’s attorneys say Bevilacqua ordered Lynn’s supervisor, Msgr. James Molloy, to shred the list. Prosecutors say Lynn kept a copy of the list and memo and placed it in Malloy’s safe. Lynn described the list in 2005 grand jury testimony, but said he couldn’t find it. Bevilacqua and Molloy denied obstructing justice and destroying documents in their grand jury testimony. Although archdiocesan officials had found the memo in 2006, they turned it over to prosecutors only last month. Lynn’s lawyers argued that their client’s charges should be dismissed because any conspiracy to protect abusive priests came from Church officials above Lynn. Prosecutors portrayed defense arguments as “a combination of the dead-guys-did- Bevilacqua and Molloy have died, but court documents state the conspiracy also included Bishop Edward Cullen, now emeritus bishop of Allentown, Penn., and Bishop Joseph Cistone, now bishop of Saginaw, Mich. “Appallingly, none of these individuals is on trial,” said reports on the court documents. “These Philadelphia Church leaders showed a scandalous lack of compassion for abuse victims,” said Mark Mullaney, VOTF’s president, “and attitudes similar to theirs today, plus the fact that two bishops implicated in the Philadelphia conspiracy still lead dioceses, render the Dallas Charter guidelines to protect children worthless. When Church leaders from around the world gathered for the Vatican’s “Toward Healing and Renewal” symposium in February, they talked for four days, showing great concern for abuse victims. VOTF now calls for the Vatican to translate statements of concern into action against bishops who have covered up the truth.” # # # Voice of the Faithful (http://www.votf.org) was formed in 2002 in response to the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. VOTF now comprises 150 Parish Voice affiliates and 30,000 members committed to helping renew the Catholic Church. End
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