PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Jury selection is set to start today in the landmark priest sex-abuse trial of a longtime official of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Monsignor William Lynn is the first U.S. church official ever charged for allegedly keeping accused priests in parish work around children.

The 61-year-old Lynn goes on trial with the Rev. James Brennan and former priest Edward Avery.

Jury selection may take several weeks. Testimony won’t start until late March.

Prosecutors say Lynn knew about secret files at the archdiocese that held child sex-assault complaints lodged against dozens of priests.

Lynn’s lawyers say he took orders from Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua from 1992 to 2003.

Bevilacqua died last month. But jurors might still hear from him, in the videotaped testimony he gave last year.