The Associated Press is reporting this morning that retired Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who led the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia for more than 15 years, died in his sleep Tuesday night at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, a Philadelphia suburb.
His death comes just days after lawyers battled in court over his competency as a potential witness in the upcoming trial of a longtime aide in a high profile sex abuse case.
Prosecutors said last year in the archdiocesd the "abuse [of minors by clergy] was known, tolerated, and hidden by high church officials, up to and including the Cardinal (Bevilacqua) himself."
Read the Philadelphia Inquirer story.
The archdiocese's statement on his death is here.