Top priest testifies in abuse trial

The child abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in the United States turned a new page this week as Monsignor William Lynn, of the Philadelphia Archdiocese, below, testified at his trial on charges of child endangerment and conspiracy.

Monsignor Lynn, a former secretary of the clergy, is the most senior Catholic Church official to be prosecuted in the US so far.

The trial, at the Common Pleas Court, is already in its ninth week. Monsignor Lynn is not accused of having molested minors himself, but could face 28 years in jail if convicted.