Pope “Begs” for Forgiveness
At a mass with some 15,000 priests marking the end of the Roman Catholic Church’s Year for Priests, the Pope asked for forgiveness from victims of priest sexual abuse:
“We … insistently beg forgiveness from God and from the persons involved, while promising to do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again,”
Vatican Not Responsible for Bishops Actions
The Vatican is defending a lawsuit that claims Bishops in the United States covered up allegations of sexual abuse. That’s not news. The Pope and the Roman Catholic Church have never acknowledged the responsibility the Church as an institution has to survivors of priest sexual abuse. The Catholic Church tends to fight lawsuits filed by priest abuse victims vigorously, even if the priests involved have been criminally convicted.
Blame Everyone Else
New Brunswick Priests Convicted of Sexual Abuse
Two former priests employed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bathurst, Levi Noel and Charles Picot have been convicted of sexually assaulting children in their parishes during several decades spanning the 1950’s through to the early 1980’s.
We have been asked to help a number of survivors who have advised us they were sexually abused by Levi Noel and Charles Picot.
Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of being invited to present at the Canadian Institute’s 9th Annual summit on Institutional Liability for Sexual Assault & Abuse.
The two day conference brought together plaintiff and defence counsel from across the country to discuss emerging issues in the law pertaining to liability for child abuse.
This is the third time I have been invited to speak by the Canadian Institute. I was asked to make two presentations. I presented on the use of class actions as a tool for the resolution of institutional sexual abuse claims.
Millions of Canadians know someone who has been sexually abused by a priest according to an Ipsos Reid survey released today.
2 Million Canadians Know Abuse Victims
According to study conducted for Canwest News Service, at least 2 million Canadians claim to know someone who has been sexually abused by a Catholic priest. This is an extraordinary, and disturbing, finding. Sexual abuse is a crime of secrecy. Many survivors, perhaps the majority, never tell anyone about the abuse they have suffered. If there are 2 million Canadians who claim to personally know a survivor of priest sexual abuse, then one has to be concerned that the actual number of victims is much higher.
Some of the other findings of the survey:
I have been invited to speak at the Canadian Institute’s Ninth National Summit on Institutional Liability for Sexual Assault and Abuse.
My presentation is Overcoming Key Hurdles in Bringing and Defending Child Sexual Assault and Abuse Claims.
The conference is taking place in Toronto April 7-8, 2010.
The Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bathurst has asked the Vatican to laicize a former priest from the Diocese, Father Levi Noel, who has been sentenced to eight years in jail for 22 sex related criminal offences.
Father Wesley Wade, spokesperson for the Diocese of Bathurst has told CBC news that the request is in the hands of the Vatican.
Laicization is a penalty imposed under the Code of Canon Law (Church law) where a priest is stripped of the right to perform priestly duties.
I have been retained to represent two women who allege they were sexually abused by a former priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Yarmouth, Father Raoul Deveau.
Anna Maria Tremonti of CBC’s The Current, interviewed one of my clients. You can listen to the interview here.
Secrets Protect the Abusers
This months cover story in Canadian Lawyer magazine is about Ron Martin’s class action against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish.
You can read the story online.
Justice Normand Glaude has released his report in the Cornwall Inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse.
Justice Glaude said during a press conference that:
“Institutions were ill equipped to deal with allegations about their own employees…institutions tend to try to find a way out, allowing individuals to stay under ineffective conditions that failed to protect the vulnerable.”
