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Philly Cardinal reportedly ordered shredding of child rape docs



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The conservative Cardinal Bevilacqua of Philadelphia, and the Catholic church, is not looking very good, again.  Philly.com:

The result was his February 1994 memo that identified 35 priests suspected of abuse or pedophilia. Lynn allegedly gave it to his superior, Msgr. James Molloy, the assistant vicar for administration, who shared his duties documenting abuse complaints.

Bevilacqua discussed the memo in a March 15, 1994, meeting with Molloy and Bishop Edward P. Cullen, then the cardinal's top aide, the filing says. After the meeting, Bevilacqua allegedly ordered Molloy to shred the memo.

One week later, Molloy allegedly destroyed four copies, with the Rev. Joseph Cistone as a witness. "This action was taken on the basis of a directive I received from Cardinal Bevilacqua," say Molloy's handwritten notes.

But Molloy apparently had second thoughts. Without telling anyone, he took a copy of the memo, and his notes, and placed them in a portable, locked safe.

According to the motion, that safe remained untouched and unnoticed until 2006, when archdiocesan officials found it and hired a locksmith to open it. It's unclear why the records inside were only recently turned over to Lynn's lawyers and prosecutors, although church lawyers have said they have been reviewing thousands of files to comply with trial subpoenas.
NOTE FROM JOHN: Yeah, it took six years for them to fully appreciate what they'd found.  Sure.

It absolutely blows my mind that we continue to have to listen the Catholic church bloviate about the moral ills of society. These men have zero moral authority - hell, they have negative moral authority at this point.  How many times do they have to pull this game before people stop treating them as a serious voice on moral issues?  It's no wonder the church has so closely tied itself tothe Republican party - birds of a feather.  Simply sickening.


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