PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Inquirer
By David O'Reilly
Inquirer Staff Writer
Three men who say they were sexually assaulted decades ago by a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia filed lawsuits yesterday against the archdiocese, alleging its leaders concealed his crimes from authorities and parishes, allowing him to abuse other children.
Their attorney, Jay Abramowitch of Berks County, said there is such strong evidence of a cover-up in alleged incidents involving the former Rev. James J. Brzyski that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court might set aside the statute of limitations that typically bars such suits.
In briefs filed with Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, Abramowitch cited remarks by the Rev. James Gigliotti, a Franciscan priest who once served in the Philadelphia Archdiocese.
Gigliotti, who now serves in Texas, told The Inquirer last month that in the early 1980s he warned an archdiocesan official that Brzyski appeared to be abusing altar boys in his parish. He said the official told him: "Keep your mouth shut."