Allentown Central Catholic High School

Philadelphia Archbishop expected to step down following sex abuse scandal

Philadelphia Cardinal Justin Rigali is expected to step down five months after a grand jury report blasted the archdiocese for failing to investigate claims of sexual abuse by priests, according to a Catholic news website

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver will replace him, according to the National Catholic Reporter website.

Pope Benedict XVI today is expected to accept Rigali’s resignation, according to the site. Rigali, 76, had been leading the archdiocese since 2003.

Rigali last April submitted a resignation letter to the Vatican on his 75th birthday — the church’s default retirement age — and did not provide a reason, said Philadelphia Archdiocese spokeswoman Donna Farrell.

In February, a Philadelphia grand jury report accused the Philadelphia archdiocese of failing to investigate allegations for decades that priests sexually abused children.

The grand jury investigation was released following the investigation into allegations that two priests and a Catholic school teacher sexually abused a 10-year-old boy at St. Jerome Church in Northeast Philadelphia, and that another priest assigned to St. Jerome raped a 14-year-old boy.

Juliann Bortz, a leader with the Allentown chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said she has seen an increase in victims in recent weeks with at least four men alleging abuse by a religious leader within the past month.

Bortz fears the Vatican could promote Rigali instead of reprimanding him.

Joseph Kurtz, the archbishop of Louisville, had been under consideration for the post, according to a blog on the Catholic Reporter site. Kurtz spent 27 years in the Allentown diocese. He taught at Allentown Central Catholic High School and served as assistant pastor at Ss. Simon and Jude Church in Bethlehem.

The scathing grand jury report was the second produced in Philadelphia since 2005 and alleges decades of cover-ups among Catholic religious leaders.

Former Allentown Diocese Bishop Edward Cullen, who retired in 2009, had testified before the grand jury that Philadelphia Archbishop Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua was insistent in all cases that parishioners not be told the truth about abusive priests.

It includes a memo Cullen wrote Aug. 25, 1993, to Monsignor William Lynn in which he passes along Bevilacqua's instructions about how the matter involving the Rev. Edward Avery should be handled.

Allentown Central Catholic QB Brendan Nosovitch issues an oral ...

The ringleader of Allentown Central Catholic's wickedly efficient and effective spread offensive attack is taking his talents to the Southeastern Conference to continue his collegiate football career.

Brendan Nosovitch, a 6'2, 200-pound dual-threat field general for Allentown Central Catholic High School, issued an oral declaration to South Carolina Tuesday, according to national recruiting service Scout.com.

The Gamecocks were one of eight programs to verbally offer the Viking quarterback a scholarship, according to Scout and Rivals.com. Clemson, Eastern Michigan, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Ohio, Temple and Virginia also offered, and schools like Boston College, Michigan State, Northwestern, Penn State, Pitt, Rutgers, Vanderbilt and West Virginia had expressed interest but not offered a scholarship.

Scout.com rates Nosovitch as the #39 quarterback in the 2012 recruiting class and a three-star prospect. At one point, Nosovitch had fallen from the mid-30s to the #41-ranked quarterback in the nation in the 2012 class in Scout's position-by-position rankings. Rivals rated Nosovitch as a three-star prospect but did not rank the ACC senior-to-be at his position.

Nosovitch's declaration makes him the fifth Keystone State field general in this 2012 class to make a pre-season choice of a Division-1 college, joining Perry Hills (Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Maryland), Matt Johns (Central Bucks South, Virigina), Blake Rankin (Bloomsburg, Rutgers) and Manny Stocker (Coatesville Area, North Carolina State). Nosovitch had an incredible junior season, connecting on 186-of-317 passes for 3,112 yards and 43 touchdowns against 11 interceptions and adding 1,647 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns on 212 carries. He completed 58.7 percent of his passes and averaged 7.7 yards per carry, throwing for 200+ yards six times and rushing for 100+ yards nine times. He finished 12 of ACC's 16 games with multiple touchdown passes, including a trio of 5-touchdown pass performances in the playoffs. He also scored multiple rushing touchdowns in eight games, including four playoff games.

For his career, Nosovitch has thrown for 5,440 yards and 67 touchdowns and run for 2,665 yards and 45 touchdowns, and holds a chance to join former Jeannette field general Terrelle Pryor as the only other Pennsylvania field general with both 4,000 career rushing and passing yards in a career. He boasts a career won-loss record of 28-2 over the last two seasons for the Vikings, leading the team to consecutive District 11 AAA championships and PIAA AAA playoff berths.

Allentown Central Catholic High School Alumni, Christine Taylor, Tony Stewart, Michelle Marciniak, Ed Mccaffrey, Tim Heidecker, Billy Mccaffrey

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