PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Voice from the Desert
Road to Recovery, Inc., the only non-profit charity in the United States that provides direct services of many kinds to clergy abuse survivors, stands with all victims of clergy sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia as they absorb the news that Monsignor William Lynn has been found guilty of child endangerment. This verdict would not have been possible had brave victims not come forward to report sexual abuse to law enforcement.
District Attorney Seth Williams is to be thanked and congratulated for holding Msgr. Lynn and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia accountable for endangering the welfare of children. The Prosecution team, led by Assistant District Attorney Pat Blessington, was valiant in their presentation of a case that sent a message from Philadelphia all the way to the Vatican. Perhaps a cleansing of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, a necessary development, will now take place.
It is clear that indictments and convictions of Church officials could be entered in every diocese in the country. For too long, victims and their advocates have attempted to hold their abusers and enablers accountable, only to be dismissed and vilified by Church officials. The jury of peers in Philadelphia has sent a message to all citizens of the USA that the cover-up of clergy sexual abuse by the Catholic Church is over, will not be tolerated by law enforcement officials, and criminal charges will be filed against perpetrators and those who assign and protect them.
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