Kirchenakte Documented events from judgments, reports and church documents
1996-2011 · 15 years · show in timeline

Philadelphia 2011: A second grand jury found that the archdiocese's personnel chief sent known offenders to parishes with schools and that dozens of suspects remained in ministry

In 2011 a further grand jury in Philadelphia presented its report. An earlier grand jury had already found that high church officials up to and including the Cardinal knew of, tolerated and hid the abuse. The new grand jury found that much had not changed. A ten-year-old altar boy was abused in the sacristy by a priest and then, according to the report, passed around among his colleagues. The Secretary for Clergy, Msgr. William Lynn, knew beforehand of earlier assaults by one of the offenders but recommended him for a parish with a school. The archdiocese's victim assistance in fact served the abusers and the archdiocese, and by its own account at least 37 accused priests were still in ministry.

Period
1996-2011 (15 years)
Country
United States
Institutions
Archdiocese of Philadelphia
Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua
Msgr. William Lynn
Category
Sexual abuse, Cover-up
Level of evidence
A Primary source · what does this mean?
Persons
William Lynn (Msgr., Secretary for Clergy, according to the grand jury recommended a known offender for a parish with a school)
Anthony Bevilacqua (Cardinal, Archbishop of Philadelphia, assigned Avery to St. Jerome)
Edward Avery (priest, according to the grand jury an offender, charged with rape)
Charles Engelhardt (priest, according to the grand jury an offender, charged with rape)
James Brennan (priest, according to the grand jury an offender, charged with rape)

What happened to the people

Who was affected? Victims and numbers

  1. "Billy" (a pseudonym) was, according to the report, a ten-year-old altar boy in the fifth grade at St. Jerome School twelve years earlier. In the sacristy Father Charles Engelhardt showed him pornographic magazines and abused him; after that, according to the grand jury, Billy was passed around among Engelhardt's colleagues, including Father Edward Avery and a teacher at the school. The second victim, "Mark", was fourteen in 1996 when Father James Brennan abused him during a "sleepover" at his apartment; the parents confronted the priest but believed him.
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 2
    „Twelve years ago, Billy was a 10-year-old altar boy in the fifth grade at St. Jerome School in Philadelphia.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 2. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 2
    „After that, Billy was in effect passed around to Engelhardt’s colleagues.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 2. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 3
    „Mark told his parents what happened, and they confronted Brennan, but he denied it and they believed the priest.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 3. Original · Archive copy

How were they charged and sentenced?

  1. As Secretary for Clergy under Cardinal Bevilacqua, Msgr. William Lynn was the personnel director for priests. Four years before Billy was abused, he learned that Father Avery had groped another boy during an overnight. Avery was secretly sent to an archdiocesan sex offender programme and discharged on condition that he have no further contact with adolescents. Lynn nevertheless recommended him for a parish with a school, and Cardinal Bevilacqua assigned him to St. Jerome, where he later abused Billy. Lynn never told the school that he had sent it a child abuser.
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 3
    „Monsignor William Lynn was the Secretary for Clergy under Cardinal Bevilacqua.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 3. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 4
    „After the abuse was reported, Avery was secretly sent to a sexual offender program run by the Archdiocese.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 4. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 4
    „Avery was discharged from the sex offender program on condition that he have no further contact with adolescents.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 4. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 4
    „he recommended an assignment at a parish with a school“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 4. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 4
    „In fact, he never even told St. Jerome School that he had just sent them a child abuser.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 4. Original · Archive copy
  2. The grand jury announced that Fathers Avery, Engelhardt and Brennan and the teacher would be charged with rape and related offences. On the treatment of victims it wrote that the archdiocese, often taking direction from its attorneys, had engaged in a deliberate strategy to bully, mislead and stonewall victims, sometimes sending out agents to look for harmful information about them; reporting to law enforcement was never considered. By the archdiocese's own account, at least 37 priests remained in ministry despite reports of improper behaviour with minors.
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 3
    „For what they did, Father Avery, Father Engelhardt, Father Brennan, and teacher Shero will all be charged with rape and related offenses.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 3. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 75
    „Archdiocese officials historically engaged in a deliberate strategy to bully, mislead, and stonewall victims.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 75. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 75
    „Sometimes the church hierarchy would send out agents to investigate the victims, looking for harmful information.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 75. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 75
    „Reporting the priests’ crimes to law enforcement was never considered.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 75. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 119 f.
    „By the Archdiocese’s own account, at least 37 priests“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 119 f.. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 120
    „remain in ministry despite reports that they have engaged in improper behavior with minors.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 120. Original · Archive copy

What happened to those affected?

  1. Billy stopped talking with friends and started smoking marijuana; he often gagged and vomited for reasons doctors could not find. By high school he was taking pills, then heroin. Mark suffered depression, dramatic weight loss and drug and alcohol addiction and ultimately attempted suicide.
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 2
    „Billy stopped talking with friends and started smoking marijuana.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 2. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 2
    „By high school he was taking pills, and then heroin.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 2. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 3
    „From that point, Mark suffered depression, dramatic weight loss, and drug and alcohol addiction. Ultimately he attempted suicide.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 3. Original · Archive copy

Background

Response of the Church

  1. The 2011 grand jury built on the earlier grand jury report (which it dates in one place to September 2003 and in another to September 2005), according to which abuse by priests of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia had been known, tolerated and hidden by high church officials up to and including the Cardinal. It found that much had not changed: the accused priests had been well known to the Secretary for Clergy, who cloaked their conduct and put them in place to do it again. The archdiocese's procedures to help victims were in fact designed to help the abusers and the archdiocese itself. Dozens of apparent abusers remained on duty, with open access to new young prey.
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 1
    „That abuse was known, tolerated, and hidden by high church officials, up to and including the Cardinal himself.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 1. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 1
    „In September 2003, a grand jury of local citizens released a report“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 1. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 75
    „Since the prior grand jury’s report was issued in September 2005“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 75. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 1
    „The rapist priests we accuse were well known to the Secretary of Clergy, but he cloaked their conduct and put them in place to do it again.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 1. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 1
    „The procedures implemented by the Archdiocese to help victims are in fact designed to help the abusers, and the Archdiocese itself.“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 1. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 1
    „dozens of them, we believe“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 1. Original · Archive copy
    Evidence: Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia, S. 1
    „remain on duty in the Archdiocese, today, with open access to new young prey“
    Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008), S. 1. Original · Archive copy

See also

Original documents to read

  1. Government report
    Court of Common Pleas, First Judicial District of Pennsylvania; District Attorney of Philadelphia: Report of the Grand Jury, In re County Investigating Grand Jury XXIII (Misc. No. 0009901-2008). Original · Archive copy (retrieved 30 Oct 2026)
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