Philadelphia monsignor’s trial begins

PHILADELPHIA – A high-ranking monsignor who’s on trial “won’t run” from the Catholic Church’s sex abuse crisis, his lawyer said Monday as the landmark child endangerment trial began.

Monsignor William Lynn supervised more than 800 priests as the secretary for clergy in Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004. He’s the first U.S. church official charged over his handling of abuse complaints.

Prosecutors charge that he kept dangerous priests in parish work around children to protect the church’s reputation and avoid scandal.

Defense lawyer Thomas Bergstrom said in opening statements: “There is documentary evidence that the sexual abuse of children happened in the Catholic Church. We’re not going to run from that. He (Lynn), perhaps alone, is the one who tried to correct it.”

Bergstrom said his client had prepared a list of 35 accused priests in 1994, based on his review of secret archives kept in a locked room at the archdiocese’s headquarters. Lynn gave the list to Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and other superiors, but Bevilacqua had it shredded, Bergstrom said.

A copy was found in 2006 in a locked safe at the archdiocese and was turned over by a church lawyer this year. The document is something of a smoking gun, although each side hopes to spin it its way.

Defense lawyers say the document shows Lynn trying to assess the scope of the problem. Prosecutors say it shows the church was mostly concerned about legal liability. The list notes whether the statute of limitations had run in each case.

Lynn is on trial with the Rev. James Brennan, who is charged with raping a 14-year-old boy in 1996. Both men entered not guilty pleas Monday.