A full autopsy for Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, a key witness in a Catholic Church sex abuse trial who died last month, is unwarranted, the coroner examining the death said on Saturday. Bevilacqua, the retired archbishop of Philadelphia, died at age 88 on January 31, the day after a judge ruled he was competent to testify in an upcoming sex abuse trial involving clerics and a schoolteacher.
Yes, his sudden death is strangely coincidental. But, even if he had testified, what would he say? If, like a number of those scoundrels in the Catholic hierarchy who turned a proverbial blind eye to stories of sexual abuse within their ranks, he’d probably deny any knowledge of it. Still, I have no sympathy for him. And, as a former Catholic – an altar boy at that! – I have no regard for the Church. Its disregard for basic human rights (note the current birth control debate) makes me realize it – along with other religious institutions – serves no purpose in a progressive society.
Chief Writing Wolf 