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Philadelphia (CNN) -- Opening arguments started Monday in the first case in which a Roman Catholic archdiocese official is accused of covering up evidence of suspected sexual abuse of children.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — In a sudden turn of events, one of the defendants in the Philadelphia priest sex abuse scandal has decided to plead guilty.

Ten years after Catholic bishops swore to clean up their act after decades of sexual abuse by priests and cover-ups by their leaders, the Catholic Church is proving that old habits die hard.

Religious institutions have constitutional protections, but they are not above the law. Unfortunately, that has not stopped the Roman Catholic Church and other religious groups from arguing that the First Amendment shields them from civil lawsuits for negligent supervision and retention of employees who sexually abuse children.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, has played a critical role in making public the horrific crimes of pedophile priests and holding the Roman Catholic Church accountable for the crimes. Now the church is using a tactic that could cripple SNAP by embroiling it in costly litigation in which it is not a party.

Turning the tables on an advocacy group that has long supported victims of pedophile priests, lawyers for the Roman Catholic Churchand priests accused of sexual abuse in two Missouri cases have gone to court to compel the group to disclose more than two decades of e-mails that could include correspondence with victims, lawyers, whistle-blowers, witnesses, the police, prosecutors and journalists.

Since 1985, at least 32 Roman Catholic priests have left the United States for foreign countries while facing criminal charges or a police investigation over allegations that they sexually assaulted or abused minors, according to federal warrants, news reports and law enforcement sources.

HOUSTON—A former United Methodist Minister is named in a multi-million dollar civil suit filed by a woman who claims that she was sexually abused for years while senior church members failed to take any action to prevent it.

On January 2, David Clohessy -- director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) -- sat down with lawyers representing Catholic priests. 

It was not to chat over tea.

ALBANY -— Fourteen district attorneys whose counties are within the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese have called on Bishop Howard J. Hubbard to reshape the diocese's handling of sexual abuse complaints against clergy and other employees.