Report- Cardinal prompted abuser to remain priest

NEW YORK -- Cardinal Edward Egan once encouraged a priest who admitted sexually abusing a teen-ager to continue to serve in the priesthood, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The revelations came in videotaped testimony produced five years ago for a civil trial involving a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn.

A copy of the videotape was obtained by the Washington Post, which reported Saturday that Egan said at the time he would not summarily suspend a priest, even in the face of shocking allegations of sexual abuse. He said diocesan priests were "self-employed" and not the bishop's responsibility.

"I would have to know the complete circumstances," said Egan, who now is head of the Archdiocese of New York.

A lawyer then presented a hypothetical case with a fact pattern identical to the Martinelli case.

What if this priest was a teacher, the lawyer asked, and sexually assaulted a student and bit the student's penis?

"That would be sufficient cause for suspension, I'm sure, in many bishops' minds," Egan responded.

The lawyer then asked: "Would it be sufficient cause in your mind?"

"I would have to know all of the details," Egan replied.