Top Aide to Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua Indicted

Countless Catholics continue to stick their head in the sand and try to ignore the continuing tidal wave of evidence of the systemic moral bankruptcy throughout the Church's senior leadership. They need to wake up and face the reality that they have been blindly supporting what amounts to a worldwide criminal conspiracy to cover up crimes against children and youth. The latest example of the foul behavior of church officials is the the indictment of Monsignor William Lynn (pictured at right), one of former Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua's top aides, who is accused of shielding molester priests from detection and transferring them to unsuspecting parishes. Three other priests, plus a sixth-grade teacher at a Catholic school, were charged with actually raping and sexually assaulting the same boy. It's disgusting conduct (especially by those who strut around expecting sheep like parishioners to bow and scrape to them), but that 's the type of criminal behavior a part of each dollar contributed at the parish level continues to subsidizes. Anyone who proudly says that they are a "practicing Catholic," basically is admitting to be an accessory to crimes against children and youths. Here are highlights from the Village Voice
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[I]t's the indictment of Lynn for allegedly endangering the welfare of a child that breaks new ground in a scandal that broke nationally a decade ago. Everywhere else, including New York, high Church officials have escaped criminal prosecution. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, hailed the stunning news: This news may mean that finally one of the hundreds of complicit Catholic officials who have hidden or are hiding clergy sex crimes might be brought to justice.
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A column in the Philadelphia Daily News describes just how rotten things have been in the Philadelphia archdioceses - and likely just as foul in many other diocese across the world. Here are some highlights:
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If a parish priest confessed that your tithing paid rapists to retire and funded interrogations that push innocents to suicide, would you demand a refund? And knowing that dozens of area priests accused of abuse remain on the job in good standing with access to children, should you think twice about signing up your son for altar service? The latest 124-page grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse makes abundantly clear that when it comes to predator priests, the Philadelphia Archdiocese blew its last chance to be believed.
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Victims who muster the courage to report their torment then must endure an investigatory process biased against them. One young man was hounded into giving an in-person statement with a church staffer who immediately relayed the details to lawyers fearing litigation. Another victim was guilted into reliving his trauma while hospitalized after a suicide attempt, only to learn later that the archdiocese had used his confidences against him in the defense of his priestly abuser.
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The church touted the "reforms," but made sure the new process was as sick and twisted as the old. Turns out the archdiocese refused to adopt any of the victim advocate's recommendations. And that much-hyped Review Board - chosen by the cardinal himself - regularly deems accusations "unsubstantiated" even when priests flunk polygraph tests and the evidence against them is overwhelming.