By Eric S. Smith
Daily Local News
February 23, 2011
http://dailylocal.com/articles/2011/02/23/news/srv0000010991476.txt
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DOWNINGTOWN — The pastor at St. Joseph Church was placed on administrative leave eight days after he was indicted on two charges of endangering a minor.
Monsignor William Lynn was "away from the parish" immediately following the indictment, but last Friday he was officially placed on leave by Cardinal Justin Rigali, the archbishop of Philadelphia.
"Monsignor Lynn had taken some time away from the parish, and it was not until last week that he returned — therefore the action was taken last Friday," said Donna Farrell, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
"Personnel changes like this take a bit of time as well. The archdiocese had to identify someone to provide for the pastoral care of the parish."
Monsignor Joseph McLoone, who serves as pastor at St. Katherine Drexel in Chester, has been assigned to take over Lynn's responsibilities.
The Rev. Stephen Thorne, director of the office for black Catholics, has been assigned to McLoone's parish.
Lynn served as the secretary of the clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004. A grand jury found he allegedly allowed sex offenders to re-enter the church and hold positions with access to children at parishes with schools.
The charges against Lynn follow indictments for three priests — Edward Avery, Charles Engelhardt and James Brennan — and teacher Bernard
Shero on rape, indecent sexual assault and related offenses, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said.
The grand jury alleges Avery, Engelhardt and Shero raped a 10-year-old boy about 12 years ago. The men reportedly committed the rapes on separate occasions.
In 1996, Brennan allegedly raped a 14-year-old boy, the grand jury found.
While at the archdiocese, Lynn worked under Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.
The grand jury found insufficient evidence to charge Bevilacqua in this case but said reports of abuse "are still coming in."
The grand jury report states Lynn knew of previous reports of abuse by the priests in question.
Avery was sent to a therapy program for sexual offenders. After he left the program, Lynn recommended and Bevilacqua approved an assignment to Philadelphia's St. Jerome, which had a school. Avery's previous record was not reported to anyone.
The therapy program made recommendations that Avery should not be at a facility with minors, the grand jury report states.
The grand jury found that Lynn also knew of previous relations between Brennan and young boys and simply hid them. Brennan served as a member of the faculty at Cardinal O'Hara High School and was known to have "inappropriate relationship" with students, the grand jury report states.
These findings come more than five years after a 2005 Philadelphia grand jury found that the Catholic Church was covering up many acts of sexual abuse. That report says there was documentation of abuse by at least 63 priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
To contact staff writer Eric S. Smith, send an e-mail to esmith@dailylocal.com.
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