Media blackout lifted on Bevilacqua death

Now that the days of viewings and services marking the death of Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua have concluded, it is apparently safe for the Inquirer to wade into reporting on the circumstances surrounding the former archbishop's unexpected demise.

In a story that appeared on Philly.com shortly after 10PM tonight, Inquirer reporter John Martin details how Montgomery County coroner Walter Hofman has been involved in probing the prelate's death since shortly after Bevilacqua passed away last week:

A representative of the coroner's office came to the seminar(sic) the night the cardinal died, according to Donna Farrell, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese...

Hofman said he was asked the next morning by county prosecutors to conduct his examination. He arranged for Bevilacqua's body to be transported to the coroner's office in Norristown.

It had already been embalmed, but Hofman said embalming would not interfere with his exam. The body was returned to the funeral home later Tuesday.

The coroner also asked the archdiocese to turn over medical notes and any medicines Bevilacqua had ingested in the three weeks before his death, Farrell said.

For the record, it has taken 10 days for this story to make its way into the news. No explanation is offered in the Inquirer article for the delay in reporting these developments.

The strange case of Cardinal Bevilacqua

I can't get past this, though it seems like I'm the only one bothered by it or even thinking about it.

At the beginning of last week, in a story posted on philly.com at 3AM on Tuesday, Jan.31, the Inquirer reported that Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sardina ruled former Philadelphia archbishop Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua competent to testify in an upcoming abuse case brought against three Catholic priests.

Less than 24 hours later, Bevilacqua was dead.


Now if this had been a Mafia don or the head of a drug-dealing street gang, the papers would have been full of the "stange circumstances and convenient timing surrounding the death of a key witness."

But to date, not one word in that regard as it applies to the Cardinal has been written or reported by any media outlet in Philadelphia - or anywhere else, for that matter.

Granted, Bevilacqua was an old, sick man when he died. He reportedly was battling cancer and Alzheimers, and his death was not a shock. But according to a post in the Catholic clergy blog Whispers in the Loggia Bevilacqua's passing was "not expected to any imminent extent."

So we have the unexpected death of a key witness in a high-profile sex-abuse case...and not a single solitary piece of reporting about it. The death reportedly took place at the Cardinal's residence in Lower Merion, so jurisdiction would be in Montgomery County. Yet we have had almost no word about whether Montco DA Lisa Vetri Ferman has opened an investigation or whether county coroner Walter Hofman ordered any medical examination or autopsy of the Cardinal following his demise.

I say "almost no word" because there appears to be one very brief attempt to contact Hofman reported in an article appearing on something called Pahomepage.com. Here's what it says:

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has resisted expanding on claims Bevilacqua suffered from cancer and dementia.

A cause of death is not being released at this time.

A call to Montgomery County Coroner Walter Hofman said on the phone to Eyewitness News, "I'm not talking about His Eminence."

A reporter was asking if Hofman's office had pronounced the Cardinal dead on Monday night. Hofman said information will only be released after his office completes its report. He said that would be four to six weeks.

So apparently anyone who has questions about the suspicious timing of Bevilacqua's death will need to cool their heels until sometime in March or April.

Meanwhile, we are left to ponder the deep mysteries of how the Philadelphia news media, government authorities and Catholic hierarchy can seemingly work hand in hand to ignore this curious turn of events. And it seems we must ponder it to ourselves, because Philly.com has also decided to delete its Comment section beneath all stories dealing with Bevilacqua's death.

To me, the past week has not only seen the passing of a high-profile religious leader.

It's also seen local journalism lapse into a coma.