PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Newsworks
July 23, 2012
By Elizabeth Fiedler
Monsignor William Lynn, the first U.S. church official convicted for failing to prevent other priests from sexually abusing children, is awaiting sentencing. The former secretary for clergy for the Philadelphia Archdiocese was found guilty last month.
With the landmark trial over, the church faces calls for transparency.
Philadelphia’s Archbishop Charles Chaput and many others across the country give the public, including affected parishioners, little information about alleged child sexual abuse by priests, says Anne Barrett Doyle, the co-director of bishopaccountability.org.
“Chaput, though, is even less transparent than many bishops in the category of priests removed for alleged violations of the ministerial code. There we see the archbishop giving absolutely no information,” she said. “Elsewhere in U.S. dioceses, most bishops will say at least whether the ministerial misconduct fell in the category of financial misconduct or sexual misconduct with an adult.”
Doyle said in the wake of grand jury reports and the landmark priest abuse case, this is a significant time for the Philadelphia Archdiocese and area Catholics.
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