It's scary to think how more are probably out there. What is unique in this latest legal action against the Philadelphia archdiocese is that besides the alleged child rapists, the lawsuit also is targeting a church official who was one of the top aids for the former archbishop. This new twist should make Catholic church officials very nervous. Of course, there have been accusations against the current Pope for overlooking abuse during his time as an archbishop. There may be times when senior officials don't know about such details but it's highly unlikely that's the case every time. Philly.com:
Williams announced the grand-jury indictment of one of former Archbishop Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua's top aides for allegedly endangering children by shielding pedophile priests from detection and shuffling them into unsuspecting parishes where they could continue the perversions of which they are accused.
It's believed to be the first time a high-ranking Catholic official has been accused of being criminally accountable for covering up priest abuse.
Monsignor William Lynn, 60, was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. As Bevilacqua's secretary for clergy, he was the Archdiocese's personnel director and responsible for investigating reports of priest sexual abuse from 1992 until 2004.
Grand jurors had aimed even higher, saying that Bevilacqua may have been involved in the coverup.
