Philly's Catholic Archdiocese Hit With No.10 Civil Suit in 12 Months

(Photo: cpuis.us) 

Philly's Catholic Archdiocese Hit With No.10 Civil Suit in 12 Months

A Pennsylvania man, now 29, sued the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia on last Wednesday for alleged sexual abuse by a priest. This marks the 10th civil suit filed against the church since a 2011 grand jury report detailed sexual abuse by clergy in the area.

The suit names the Rev. John R. Liggio, the archdiocese and the Order of St. Augustine. It alleges a priest at suburban Malvern Preparatory School sexually abused a youth in 1997 and 1998. The student was under the age of 16 at the time of the alleged abuse. This lawsuit seeks more than $50,000 in damages.

"He did so by using physical, intellectual, moral, emotional and psychological force," according to the lawsuit filed in Philadelphia's Common Pleas Court.
A sweeping sex abuse scandal has rocked the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the nation's sixth largest with 1.5 million members.

Read full report at Church Scandal Report

First Catholic Official Convicted in Cover Up of Sexual Abuse of Children

Monsignor William Lynn convicted of cover up of sexual child abuse 

First Catholic Official Convicted in Cover Up of Sexual Abuse of Children

Good News: Monsignor William J. Lynn is the first U.S. Catholic official who has been convicted for covering up the sexual abuse of children. He was sentenced to 3-6 years in prison on Tuesday, July 24.
Lynn, 61, has been in a jail since his June 22 conviction on endangering the welfare of a child. Monsignor Lynn escaped what prosecutors were seeking, which was the maximum penalty of up to seven years.

“You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong,” said Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina.
Sarmina told Lynn that he enabled “monsters in clerical garb ... to destroy the souls of children, to whom you turned a hard heart.”

The Washington Post reported:

Lynn was head of priest personnel for a dozen years and was one of the highest-ranking officials in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
Lynn was the first church official to be tried for what many see as an unaddressed crime in the decades-long tally of abuse throughout the church:

Read more at Church Scandal Report

Catholic Monsignor William Lynn Convicted for Failing to Report Sexual Predatory Acts of Priests

Monsignor William Lynn Convicted for Failing to Report Sexual Predatory Acts of Priests

We will never believe that a conviction of a church official knowingly allowing abuse to go on has finally occurred. We pray this is the beginning of many, many convictions because they need to be held accountable.

This conviction is a long time coming event. It's a shame how the Roman Catholic diocese has systematically undisclosed who their many predators are in the church. We still can't understand why men, who took a vow to be celibate would in turn, corrupt their positions with God and violate the most vulnerable and innocent in our communities? This is a problem amongst many other denominations as well like the Church of God in Christ...

Read more at our sister blog at AT2W