UNITED STATES
Christian Catholicism
Jerry Slevin
Big News! Guilty Monsignor’s Family Lay Crimes Against Children On Cardinals: Will Pope Now Act On Cardinal Rigali?
The family of convicted child endangerer, Monsignor William Lynn, now say, in pertinent part, reportedly that Lynn’s criminal trial was about ” … charging an underling with the crimes of his former superiors who could not or would not be prosecuted.”
Lynn must have confirmed this with his family, no? How else could they otherwise have known of the “crimes of his former superiors”, principally Philadelphia Cardinals Justin Rigali and Anthony Bevilacqua. For years Lynn has avoided pointing the fingers at his bosses. At his sentencing, the trial judge told him, in effect, that he should have stood up to the cardinals.
Why is Lynn’s finger pointing now through his family? Will he soon say more and say it directly and publicly? Will Pope Francis seek to find out the facts about this statement mentioning cardinals’ crimes against children? Will the pope ask Lynn about this when he visits Philadelphia this summer? Since Rigali is apparently still honored at Vatican events, Francis should at a minimum speak to Lynn, no? Will the Catholics of Philadelphia demand the pope do so or just go along like docile sheep with the pope’s latest charade?
Please see also my related “Pope Francis’ Mess: The Media, The USA Threat, The Vatican & The Democratic Era “.
Lynn had served 18 months of a 3 to 6 year sentence before Pennsylvania’s intermediate Superior Court overturned on appeal his trial court conviction. He then spent the last 16 months under house arrest under terms of release imposed by Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina, who presided over Lynn’s 2012 trial and conviction by a jury.
After Pennsylvania’s highest court, the Supreme Court, reversed the Superior Court’s reversal of Lynn’s conviction, Judge Sarmina revoked bail and ordered Lynn back to jail. When Lynn appeared in Judge Sarmina’s courtroom on a motion by the to revoke his bail, Lynn’s family was noticeably absent from the proceedings.The monsignor’s family subsequently released a statement that reportedly says, in pertinent part:
We, the family of Msgr. Lynn, chose to forgo the proceedings as we were confident of what the outcome would be, … . We firmly believe that abuse of a child by any individual should not be tolerated. Sadly this trial was not about justice for victims but about establishing political platforms by charging an underling with the crimes of his former superiors who could not or would not be prosecuted. (my emphasis).
Who incidentally is paying for all of Lynn’s appeals? Are Lynn and his lawyers trying to send Philly’s current leader, Archbishop Charles Chaput, through Lynn’s family, a message that Lynn may be considering finally disclosing details about crimes alleged of the two cardinals he worked for? What is really going on here? Let us hope Pope Francis tries to get to the bottom of this disgraceful mess.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.