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  Report Critical of Cullen's Role in Priest Abuse Scandal

The Morning Call [Allentown PA]
September 22, 2005

The portrayal of Allentown Bishop Edward Cullen in a Philadelphia grand jury's scathing report on the clergy sex abuse scandal details episodes of bureaucratic blindness and inexplicable leniency during his tenure as a top administrator in the Philadelphia Archdiocese.

The Cullen of those days stands in sharp contrast to the efficient, zero-tolerance prelate who allowed unfettered scrutiny by the five district attorneys in the Allentown Diocese after the scandal erupted nationally in 2002.

In one section of the 423-page report, Cullen, who was the chief aide to retired Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, laments that abusive priests are able to escape prosecution because too much time has passed. "I think it would be good for society if they had no statute of limitations," he told the grand jury, which spent three years examining the archdiocese's handling of abuse cases.

Elsewhere in the report, however, Cullen is portrayed as perpetuating an unwritten policy of obfuscation and excuse-peddling in dealing with sexually abusive priests. Indeed, despite his comments on the statute of limitations, he acknowledged that the passage of time was sometimes a deciding factor for the archdiocese in deciding whether allegations against a priest were credible.

 
 

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