PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Despite defense claims that Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua is senile and remembers nothing about the past two decades, a Philadelphia judge this morning reaffirmed her ruling that the former head of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia competent to testify in the trial of three priests accused of sexually abusing young boys.
“I’ll adhere to my original ruling,” Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina told defense attorney Thomas A. Bergstrom, attorney for Msgr. William J. Lynn, a former church official accused of enabling a pedophile priest to continue preying upon children by transferring him after he was accused.
Sarmina left open the question of whether the 88-year-old Bevilacqua’s testimony would be in person, or a replay of parts of the video transcript of two days of private questioning last November at the Cardinal’s residence at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.