Monsignor Lynn's Defense - Blame the Dead Guy

As the criminal trial continues of Monsignor William Lynn (pictured above), Philadelphia Archdiocese Secretary for the Clergy, the lurid and disgusting details of business as usual in the archdiocese continue to spill out in putrid waves. As the Seattle Times and Philadelphia Inquirer are reporting, these details include boasting by a priest who sexually molested three boys in a single week. Meanwhile, Monsignor Lynn's principal defense/excuse has been that the now conveniently deceased Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua was responsible for all the cover ups, etc. First these highlights from the Seattle Times:

Jurors in a landmark priest abuse trial on Monday heard about a priest-turned-camp prowler and another who was accused of bragging about having sex with three boys in a week.

In the day's most startling testimony, a detective read internal church memos about a priest who is said to have "joked about how hard it was to have sex with three boys in one week." The priest's accuser also stated that the priest had a "rotation process" of boys spending time sleeping with him.

Defense lawyers argue that Lynn tried to address the problem as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004 but was blocked by the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and others in the Philadelphia archdiocese. Bevilacqua died of heart disease on Jan. 31, a day after he was ruled competent to testify at Lynn's trial.

Several junior counselors complained in the early 1960s that the priest was on the prowl at night, molesting them in their tents. They said it was a well-known secret among teen counselors for several years.

The priest remained in ministry, working at three archdiocesan high schools and serving as assistant superintendent of Catholic schools through 2004. The priest, confronted after a man complained to the archdiocese in 1992, admitted the "sin" of masturbation and said he had read up on that subject because so many people were mentioning it in the confessional.

Few victims or members of the public have been attending the trial in downtown Philadelphia, but retired Philadelphia detective Arthur Baselice Jr., of Mantua, N.J., turned out Monday. His 28-year-old son, Arthur Baselice III, died of a drug overdose in 2006 after his civil lawsuit against the church accusing his high school principal of molesting him was thrown out because of legal time limits. The former principal, a Franciscan friar, is in prison for stealing from the school and the Franciscans nearly $900,000, some of which fed the younger Baselice's drug addiction, according to prosecutors.

Disgusted yet? Here are highlights from the Philadelphia Inquirer:

One priest, the Rev. John Cannon, sneaked into a cabin at night at a church-run camp, groped the boys in their beds, and forced them to do the same to him.

Another, the Rev. Stanley Gana, had a stable of boys rotate through his rectory bedroom, once inviting two at the same time so neither thought he was playing favorites. In both cases, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia left the men in ministry for years after allegations against them first surfaced, a Philadelphia jury was told Monday.

In 1992, jurors were told, Lynn met with a man who described being molested by Cannon in the early 1960s at a Lancaster County summer camp run by St. Monica Church in South Philadelphia.

By that time, Cannon had similar complaints in his secret file, according to records read at the trial by Detective David Fisher of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office.

A 1964 letter from a priest at St. Monica's said at least six boys had accused the priest of sneaking into their cabin at nights and molesting them when they were 12 and 13. Some said it occurred multiple times over successive summers, the letter said. After those accusations, Cannon had been transferred to another parish, the records showed. At the time, Bishop Thomas Welsh told him not to return to St. Monica's or the camp "until things died down," according to one memo.

The allegations against Gana surfaced around the same time as the ones against Cannon, the documents suggest.

In 1992, a young man told church officials that Gana had repeatedly molested him at Our Lady of Calvary in Northeast Philadelphia in the early 1980s, according to records described by Detective Joseph Walsh of the District Attorney's Office. The young man gave Lynn the names of other potential victims, including a second boy who once shared a bed with him and Gana.

Three years later, that second man came forward with his own accusation against Gana. Despite the earlier accusation, Gana had not been removed. He was still pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Bridgeport, Montgomery County.

As I have asked before, how does anyone who doesn't have their head deliberately buried in the sand or with a shred of moral decency remain a practicing Catholic. Every dollar contributed to each local parish helps fund the corrupt bishops who protect child rapists and Pope Palpatine and the foul forces at the Vatican.