Coroner: Bevilacqua died of natural causes

    A coroner is scheduled to announce the cause of death of a former Archbishop of Philadelphia who died a day after he was ordered competent to testify in the child-endangerment trial of a former aide.

    Update, 1:10 p.m. Health & Science reporter Carolyn Beeler tells us the coroner has declared Bevilacqua’s death the result of natural causes. His nurse was by his side as he died, and toxicology tests came back normal. No correlation was found between Bevilacqua’s death and a jduge’s recent ruling that he is competant for the priest sexual abuse trial.

    Eighty-eight-year-old Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua died Jan. 31 at a suburban seminary. Officials say Bevilacqua, who served as archbishop from 1988 to 2003, was suffering from dementia and cancer.

    Prosecutors asked the coroner to investigate due to the timing of the death, a day after a judge ruled Bevilacqua competent to testify at the trial of Monsignor William Lynn. Lynn is accused of transferring priests suspected of molesting children to unwitting parishes.

    • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

    Montgomery County Coroner Walter Hofman says he will release the cause of death at a news conference Thursday.

     

    WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

    Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

    Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal