Coroner: Cardinal Bevilacqua Died of Natural Causes

By Keith Phucas
Times Herald
March 9, 2012

http://www.timesherald.com/article/20120308/NEWS01/120309618/-1/entertainment

The late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua died of natural causes with a nurse by his side, and nothing was suspicious about his death, according to Montgomery County Coroner Dr. Walter Hofman.

Bevilacqua, 88, died on Jan. 31, a day after a Philadelphia court ruled him competent to testify in a priest child endangerment case. Hofman performed a postmortem examination on the body a day later at the request of District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, who wanted to be certain nothing untoward occurred to cause the cardinal’s death.

The coroner said he would not ordinarily have performed a forensic examination on Bevilacqua, considering his advanced age.

“It is my opinion there is no relationship between the judge’s competency ruling and his Eminence’s subsequent sudden death,” Hofman said. “Elderly people (often) suddenly die. This is a natural death.”

The coroner said the physical examination he conducted took 25 to 30 minutes. No autopsy was performed.

“There is no injury to the body, including no evidence of choking, suffocation or strangulation,” he said.

Hofman said the exam found significant preexisting natural disease, and arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease is listed as the official cause of death. Prostate cancer was a contributing factor.

The late cardinal’s prescription medications were within generally accepted therapeutic levels and no unexpected substances were detected.

“With the understanding that some (drug levels) are bit higher and others a bit lower due to the influence of embalming fluid,” he said.

The toxicology testing was performed at National Medical Services in Willow Grove, described by Hofman as the “premier toxicology laboratory in the United States if not the world.”

side, and nothing was suspicious about his death, according to Montgomery County Coroner Dr. Walter Hofman.

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Bevilacqua, 88, died on Jan. 31, a day after a Philadelphia court ruled him competent to testify in a priest child endangerment case. Hofman performed a postmortem examination on the body a day later at the request of District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, who wanted to be certain nothing untoward occurred to cause the cardinal’s death.

The coroner said he would not ordinarily have performed a forensic examination on Bevilacqua, considering his advanced age.

“It is my opinion there is no relationship between the judge’s competency ruling and his Eminence’s subsequent sudden death,” Hofman said. “Elderly people (often) suddenly die. This is a natural death.”

The coroner said the physical examination he conducted took 25 to 30 minutes. No autopsy was performed.

“There is no injury to the body, including no evidence of choking, suffocation or strangulation,” he said.

Hofman said the exam found significant preexisting natural disease, and arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease is listed as the official cause of death. Prostate cancer was a contributing factor.

The late cardinal’s prescription medications were within generally accepted therapeutic levels and no unexpected substances were detected.

“With the understanding that some (drug levels) are bit higher and others a bit lower due to the influence of embalming fluid,” he said.

The toxicology testing was performed at National Medical Services in Willow Grove, described by Hofman as the “premier toxicology laboratory in the United States if not the world.”

When Bevilacqua died at 9:35 p.m. that night at his St. Charles Seminary residence in Wynnewood a nurse was by his side.

“The nurse was sitting next to him holding his hand,” he said. The dying cardinal did speak to the nurse before he died, but the coroner would only say his final words were “not of a religious nature.”

Church officials said previously that Bevilacqua suffered from dementia, and Hofman said there is extensive documentation supporting that diagnosis. A CT scan from mid-January showed evidence of brain atrophy, he said.

The decision to conduct the examination of Catholic church official’s body was not without controversy.

“I will tell you I received hate mail for doing what I did, and I got letters from wannabe toxicologists requesting (to know) who did the examination, were standards followed, etc. etc.,” he said. “They thought I had removed him from the crypt.”

The day before the cardinal died, a Philadelphia judge ruled him competent to testify at the child endangerment trial of Monsignor William Lynn. He is accused of transferring priests suspected of sexually molesting children to other parishes between 1992 and 2004.

Bevilacqua, a Brooklyn native, served as archbishop of Philadelphia from 1988 until 2003, according to the archdiocese’s website. Pope John Paul II announced Bevilacqua’s elevation to the College of Cardinals in 1991.

Contact: kphucas@timesherald.com