Philadelphia Cardinal Accused of Shredding Sex Abuse Documents

A Philadelphia Monsignor, facing a criminal trial involving child endangerment charges, filed papers in court stating that he had kept a list of Philadelphia Archdiocesan priests accused of sexually abusing minors but that Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua ordered them destroyed.
Of course, we’ll never hear Bevilacqua’s side of the story since he’s now deceased. Monsignor Lynn has presented this evidence in an attempt to defend himself against these criminal charges. In so doing, he’s effectively accused the late Cardinal of obstruction of justice. There’s still an important question that Lynn hasn’t answered-why didn’t he take the information and give it to the police rather than give it to the Cardinal? That’s the real issue. From two Grand Jury inquiries, we already know that Cardinal Bevilacqua was not interested in pursuing justice for children. It’s convenient for Lynn that Bevilacqua can’t respond to his allegation. I don’t believe the new information absolves Lynn from the criminal charges. Yes, perhaps he was cast as a scapegoat for the Archdiocese. However, as a human being and a US citizen he had a duty to report the sexual molestation of children. He didn’t do that and that’s why he stands criminally charged with child endangerment. Apart from the morally repugnant nature of Bevilacqua’s alleged actions (shredding documents), Lynn should have called the police and protected children. It’s not any more complicated than that.