Lawyers: Bevilacqua Ordered Memo on Priests to Be Shredded

By John P. Martin
Philadelphia Inquirer
February 24, 2012

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120224_Lawyers__Bevilacqua_ordered_memo_on_priests_to_be_shredded_.html

Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua ordered two key aides in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to shred all copies of a 1994 memo that identified 35 priests suspected of sexually abusing children, according to a new court filing.

The order, outlined in a handwritten note locked away for years in church files, was disclosed for the first time Friday in a motion by lawyers for Mgsr. William J. Lynn, the former church official facing trial for enabling abusive priests.

They contend the shredding directive proves the church conspiracy to conceal clergy sex abuse occurred at levels far above Lynn, and that he has been unjustly accused.

"It is beyond doubt that Monsignor Lynn was completely unaware of this act of obstruction," attorneys Jeffery Lindy and Thomas Bergstrom wrote.

Their motion asks Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina to dismiss the conspiracy and child endangerment charges against Lynn, calling them a "gross miscarriage of justice."

At a minimum, the lawyers want the judge to bar jurors at next month's trial from hearing what Bevilacqua told prosecutors in a videotaped deposition last November.

The cardinal, who led the archdiocese from 1988 to 2003, died last month.

According to the filing, Lynn made compiling the 1994 memo on the 35 priests suspected of abuse or pedophilia one of his earliest priorities when he became secretary for clergy for the archdiocese. He did it, the lawyers said, because he "felt it was the right thing to do."

He then sent the memo to Msgr. James Molloy, who at the time was assistant vicar for administration.

The motion says that Bevilacqua discussed the memo at a meeting in March 1994 with Molloy and Bishop Edward P. Cullen.

In a handwritten note a week later, Molloy described being ordered by Bevilacqua to shred the memo and all copies. His note said another administrator, the Rev. Joseph Cistone, witnessed the shredding.

The motion doesn't explain where the documents come from or why they are now coming to light, one month before Lynn and two former parish priests are scheduled to be tried. In recent court hearings, prosecutors have said they still have outstanding subpoenas for church records.

In February 2002 - about eight years after the shredding - Bevilacqua turned over information about those 35 priests to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office for a grand jury investigation. That spring, he told reporters that any priest accused of "just one act" of misconduct would never be allowed to function as a priest in the archdiocese.

And during 10 appearances before the grand jury, he denied knowing details or playing a significant role in the handling of sex-abuse complaints, saying that he delegated those responsibilities to Lynn and others.

"I saw no evidence at any time that we did any cover-up," he testified.

Lynn's lawyers contend that such testimony by Bevilacqua and others may have been perjury.

"Had this recent Grand Jury been aware of the Cardinal's successful efforts in 'deep-sixing' a significant document prepared by Msgr. Lynn, its view of him as a potential defendant may have been entirely different," they wrote. "It is clear from the Molloy memo and the belated production, that Monsignor Lynn has been 'hung out to dry.'"

Lynn has pleaded not guilty to endangerment and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors say he recommended the Rev. James J. Brennan and a former priest, Edward Avery, for assignments in the 1990s despite knowing or suspecting they would sexually abuse children. Both are accused of molesting a boy in separate incidents, but they have denied the charges.

Jury selection began this week.