PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Christian Catholicism
Jerry Slevin
Philly’s Catholic DA, Seth Williams, is asking Jesuit educated Catholic trial judge, M. Teresa Sarmina, to deny bail to Cardinal Justin Rigali’s former top aide, Monsignor William Lynn, on the basis that Lynn is a “flight risk” who may seek refuge in the Vatican. Rigali had just been spotted on worldwide TV in the prime seats at Pope Francis’ Christmas Eve Mass at the Vatican. Will Lynn soon be reuniting with his old boss?
Is there a risk of flight of a priest implicated in decisions that placed many children at risk of priest predators? Amazingly, Lynn’s lawyer suggested that Lynn be put back to Church work, which likely would give him access to children.
There is, of course, some risk Lynn would flee to the Vatican to avoid returning to prison. Recently, for example, an allegedly child abusing Archbishop fled to Rome from the Dominican Republic, as reported at:
[CNN]
And a Polish priest facing likely charges of child sexual abuse also recently fled the Dominican Republic for Poland, as reported at:
[BBC News]
And over recent decades, numerous foreign Catholic priests have fled possible US criminal proceedings, with few returning and apparently little help from the Vatican in getting them to return; see, “Fugitives from justice: Roman Catholic priests”, as reported at:
For some of other important implications of the Lynn case, see, “Monsignor Lynn Proves Why President Obama Must Step Up”, at: http://wp.me/P2YEZ3-WZ
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