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Thursday, July 5th, 2012

Cardinal’s Aide Is Found Guilty in Abuse Case

Author:     JON HURDLE and ERIK ECKHOLM
Source:     The New York Times
Publication Date:     22-Jun-12
 Link: Cardinal’s Aide Is Found Guilty in Abuse Case
Stephan:   This is the latest in the Catholic abuse saga. It represents the first breach in the U.S. of the firewall the Church has maintained separating errant priests from the upper hierarchy. Not too long into the future this will all be seen in an historical context, dissertations will be written, and it will be discussed in the way we now talk about the corruption of the Renaissance popes. I follow this trend, and publish these stories because one out of four Americans is at least nominally Roman Catholic, and when an institution that pervasive goes through this level of crisis it affects our society in a myriad of ways. This is a two thousand year old organization, the oldest virtual corporate state on earth, and it is imploding, not just over sexuality, but financial corruption, and internal wars as well. What is going to emerge is not yet clear but the effects will echo across the world.

PHILADELPHIA — Msgr. William J. Lynn, a former cardinal’s aide, was found guilty Friday of endangering children, becoming the first senior official of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States convicted of covering up sexual abuses by priests under his supervision.

Monsignor William J. Lynn, walking into court before the verdict reading, was the first senior official of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States to be convicted for covering up child sexual abuses by priests.

The 12-member jury acquitted Monsignor Lynn, of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, of conspiracy and a second count of endangerment after a trial that prosecutors and victims rights groups called a turning point in the abuse scandals that have shaken the Catholic Church.

The single guilty verdict was widely seen as a victory for the district attorney’s office, which has been investigating the archdiocese aggressively since 2002, and it was hailed by victim advocates who have argued for years that senior church officials should be held accountable for concealing evidence and transferring predatory priests to unwary parishes.

Monsignor Lynn, 61, sat impassively as the jury foreman announced the verdicts, but relatives behind him were in tears. Judge M. Teresa Sarmina of the Common Pleas Court revoked his […]

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