PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
Monica Yant Kinney, Inquirer Columnist
Several times during the first week of a landmark criminal trial involving sex abuse and cover-ups by priests, a top official at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was described as a glorified human resources manager.
As secretary for clergy, Msgr. William J. Lynn oversaw priests’ arrivals, departures, successes, struggles, and sins. His attorney, Thomas Bergstrom, called the high-ranking position “awful” and “ugly.” Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Coelho compared Lynn to a police officer in Internal Affairs assigned to spy on fellow cops.
Lawyers likened the archdiocese to both a corporation and the military. Based on witness testimony and internal documents introduced as evidence, the archdiocese came off as dysfunctional as The Office, but minus the laughs of MASH.
Priests, Coelho told jurors in her opening statement, are “different . . . elevated.” You can’t just apply and be hired for a job as “God’s representative on earth.” But once ordained, almost anything goes.
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