PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua was so bewildered when prosecutors questioned him last month that he couldn’t recognize a longtime aide and struggled “to the point of tears” to recall how the Archdiocese of Philadelphia handled child sex-abuse allegations, a new court filing says.
In the motion filed Thursday, lawyers for the aide, Msgr. William Lynn, argue that Bevilacqua’s replies and demeanor prove he was unfit to testify and that his testimony should not be introduced at Lynn’s trial on endangerment and conspiracy charges.
The motion from lawyers Thomas Bergstrom and Jeffrey Lindy offered the first public glimpse of the historic but private hearing, when attorneys grilled the 88-year-old prelate over two days.
Their motion doesn’t quote the cardinal; the filing says the lawyers were not given transcripts. Still they cast Bevilacqua, who led the Archdiocese for 15 years, with an indelible image: as a sad, forgetful old man.
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