US church lawyer: Cardinal lied about abuse list

A Roman Catholic cardinal and his top aides lied about shredding a key piece of evidence in a U.S. clergy sex abuse scandal, a longtime church lawyer testified Monday. Tim Coyne said he had been looking for an internal list compiled in 1994 of 35 suspected predator-priests for a grand jury investigation in 2004. He asked Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and four top aides if they knew where to find it. Coyne said he doesn't remember any response from Bevilacqua, who led the Philadelphia archdiocese, and the aides denied they knew where it was. No one told him that Bevilacqua had ordered the list shredded in 1994, shortly after Monsignor William Lynn, his secretary for clergy, compiled it. "Everybody lied to you?" Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington asked. "That's fair," Coyne said. The list is key in the trial of the 61-year-old Lynn, who is charged with child endangerment for allegedly helping the archdiocese keep predators in ministry. In 2004, prosecutors were deep into a three-year probe of the archdiocese. Their blistering grand jury report blasted Bevilacqua, Lynn and others for their handling of abuse complaints lodged against 63 priests, but they said no criminal charges could be filed, mainly because the complaints were too old. Lynn, 61, was charged last year over his handling of more recent abuse complaints. Defense lawyers argue that Lynn alone tried to do something about the abuse problem when he served as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004. They point to the list as proof. Lynn told the grand jury in 2002 that he decided to go through secret church files holding abuse complaints to create a list of problem priests who were still active. His list described three priests as diagnosed pedophiles and deemed others "guilty" because they had admitted abuse. The list was discussed at a February 1994 meeting between Bevilacqua and his closest aides. A memo states that Bevilacqua ordered Monsignor James E. Molloy to shred the original list and three copies. Yet a surviving copy of the list was found at the archdiocese early this year - 10 days after Bevilacqua died. Bevilacqua, a potentially key trial witness, died Jan. 31 at age 88. Coyne has since been put on leave as counsel to the archdiocese. The Philadelphia archdiocese is not commenting on trial developments because of a gag order.