Pa. priest trial painful, poignant for Catholics

Lynn, 61, is on trial with the Rev. James Brennan, 48, who is charged with sexually assaulting a teen in 1996. Each has pleaded not guilty. Defrocked priest Edward Avery, 69, pleaded guilty to sexual assault charges days before trial, and is serving a 2-1/2 to 5-year prison term.

Avery admitted to a1999 attack on the altar boy. Another priest and former teacher from the northeast Philadelphia parish will go on trial separately later this year. That means disturbing revelations about the church will continue to shake out, even after Lynn's scheduled 12- to 16-week trial.

And it remains unclear if prosecutors are finished with the decade-long investigation of the Philadelphia archdiocese. One of Gana's accusers said he was once raped at a house owned by Bishop Michael Bransfield of West Virginia. Bransfield, a former Philadelphia priest and Gana friend, issued a statement saying he wasn't home at the time. And he forcefully denied trial allegations that he may have molested someone.

Bransfield's diocese called the trial "a circus" and said Philadelphia prosecutors are trying to "smear individuals not on trial ... to bolster their persecution of the church."

Fuisz disagrees.

"There is nothing wrong with this prosecution, nothing whatsoever," he said. "You don't take our love for the church and its teaching, and our wonderful tradition, and wield those around as artillery in a defense of Lynn."

Associated Press writers Kathy Matheson in Philadelphia and Michael Rubinkam in Allentown contributed to this report.