PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog
Ralph Cipriano
A priest who is an expert on canon law testified Thursday that in his opinion, the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua was guilty of obstructing justice when he ordered the shredding of a confidential memo in 1994 that listed 35 archdiocese priests accused of sex abuse.
Father Thomas P. Doyle, an outspoken advocate for victims of clerical sex abuse, was asked on cross-examination what advice he would have given Bevilacqua.
“He’s got a list of 35 men who are sexually abusing children, and he’s going to shred it?” Doyle asked incredulously.
“No way,” Father Doyle told the jury. “That’s like obstruction of justice.”
Father Doyle said his advice to Bevilacqua, who died Jan. 31, would have been to take off his gold ring and bishop’s robes, and go visit the families of the victims. Instead, by shredding the memo, Doyle said, the cardinal destroyed evidence.
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