A JUDGE ordered a competency hearing next month for Cardinal
Anthony Bevilacqua, the former head of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia,
under whose leadership sex-abuse crimes occurred.
Prosecutors want Bevilacqua, 88, who led the Archdiocese from 1988 to 2003, to testify on videotape to preserve his testimony.
Bevilacqua is not charged with any crime.
But his testimony could be
used by prosecutors at next year's trial in the criminal case of
Monsignor William Lynn, who was Bevilacqua's secretary for clergy and
faces charges of child endangerment and conspiracy for allegedly
transferring abusive priests to new parishes.
Common Pleas Judge
M. Teresa Sarmina set Sept. 12 for the competency hearing and
told an attorney for Bevilacqua, Michael O'Mara, to submit Bevilacqua's
medical records from the past two years before the hearing.