Lynn made those recommendations, the judge said, after reviewing the church's secret personnel files and learning about claims or suspicions against other priests.
"It will be up to the jury to decide that there were no lessons to be gleaned from those earlier cases," she said.
A spokeswoman for District Attorney Seth Williams said the office had no comment, citing the judge's gag order.
Both prosecutors and defense lawyers portrayed the issue as a cornerstone of the case against Lynn and his codefendants, the Rev. James J. Brennan and Edward Avery, a former priest, as they head to trial in March.
Over three days of arguments last month, four assistant district attorneys contended that it was proper and even necessary under court rules for jurors to hear how Lynn responded to allegations involving sexually abusive priests when he was secretary for clergy between 1992 and 2004.
They asked to introduce accusations against nearly 30 other priests, including some accused of molesting children more than 40 years ago.
"Without the context of the archdiocese's decades-long policy of protecting sexual offenders and Lynn's active participation in implementing this policy for over 10 years, his recommendations and actions on behalf of Avery and Brennan could mistakenly be viewed as something less than criminal," Assistant District Attorney Mariana Sorensen wrote in a 53-page filing.
Lynn's lawyers fought the request, contending that introducing old and never-charged allegations was irrelevant, was time-consuming, and would unfairly inflame the jury. They argued that nearly all the complaints involved conduct that occurred before Lynn became secretary for clergy or that was exposed or verified after he left the post.
They also complained that Williams' office was trying to revive a criminal case that his predecessor, Lynne M. Abraham, chose not to pursue.
