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Philadelphia Grand Jury Report and Criminal Charges
Compared with Previous Agreements of Law Enforcement Regarding Other Dioceses

February 10, 2011

The indictment of Monsignor William J. Lynn, currently pastor of St. Joseph's church in Downingtown and Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua's Vicar for Clergy 1992-2004, with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, is a major development in the Catholic sexual abuse crisis. For the first time, a senior diocesan official has been charged with a crime because he is alleged to have knowingly allowed dangerous priests to continue in ministry. The abuse crisis has always been about both the abuse of children by priests and the abuse of power by the bishops and their men. Now for the first time, a manager has been indicted for the crime of endangering children.

The action of the Philadelphia grand jury goes far beyond the agreements that law enforcement has signed with four Catholic bishops in the U.S. We provide the texts of the Philadelphia report and indictment, and the texts of the agreements below.

- Philadelphia Grand Jury Report, released 2/10/11

- Philadelphia Presentment, released 2/10/11

- See also the 2005 Philadelphia Grand Jury Report and its analysis of Lynn's role.

 

- Agreement with Bishop John B. McCormack of Manchester, dated 12/10/02 (resulted in New Hampshire Attorney General's report with 8,000-page archive)

- Agreement with Bishop Thomas J. O'Brien of Phoenix, dated 5/3/03 (see background)

- Agreement with Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk of Cincinnati, dated 11/20/03 (see media accounts 1 2 and Pilarczyk's statement)

- Agreement of Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, dated 11/17/05 (for background, see Archdiocese, Prosecutors Agree to Deal over Withheld Information, by Denise Lavoie, Associated Press, 11/18/05, with links to documents)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 
 

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