PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
Joseph A. Slobodzian, Inquirer Staff Writer
POSTED: Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Three former Philadelphia altar boys told a Common Pleas Court jury Wednesday of trips to Poland with accused priest Andrew McCormick and all maintained that the cleric never acted improperly toward them.
The witnesses – now adults – were called by McCormick’s lawyers on the first day of the defense case. All described a Catholic priest who freely socialized with boys while assigned to the St. John Cantius parish in Bridesburg.
They said McCormick, now 57, routinely “hung out” with them at the church rectory, invited them alone and in groups to his private room on the second floor, took them out for fast-food and movies and, ultimately, on two-week tours of Poland.
Two witnesses said their parents accompanied them and McCormick; another said he went with his mother’s approval.
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