Vancouver Catholic archdiocese set to release details of clergy sex abuse report
Credit to Author: Susan Lazaruk| Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2019 03:36:08 +0000
The Vancouver headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church is expected to release 31 recommendations on Friday to locally address what it calls “the worldwide crisis” of sexual abuse by priests.
The recommendations were submitted by a committee that reviewed church records to determine the extent of clerical abuse in the archdiocese of Vancouver, which presides over 443,000 parishioners in Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Powell River and parts of the Interior and northern B.C.
Vancouver Archbishop Michael Miller appointed the 13-person committee after news in 2018 of a grand jury naming 300 priests accused of abusing 1,000 victims in Pennsylvania. The Vancouver committee, which included “highly respected lawyers,” a psychologist and four abuse survivors, reviewed 36 sexual abuse cases dating to 1950.
Miller didn’t respond to an interview request.
“The archdiocese of Vancouver will be publishing all 31 recommendations of the case review committee, our response to each recommendation and our future commitment with respect to supporting victims and survivors,” said spokeswoman Melissa Godbout in an email.
The committee submitted its recommendations in the summer and the archdiocese “has been working determinedly to implement these recommendations,” said Godbout.
She wouldn’t say whether or not the archdiocese would name offending priests, as called for by advocates for the survivors.
A 2013 file photo of Vancouver Archbishop Michael Miller. He appointed the committee that looked into historical cases of clergy abuse in his archdiocese.
“Absolutely, I believe (naming priests) is definitely important,” said Leona Huggins, a member of the Vancouver committee, who spoke on Monday as B.C. spokeswoman for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
Huggins was sexually abused as a teenager in the 1970s by a parish priest, Jack McCann. She reported it as an adult. He pleaded guilty and was jailed for 10 months. He died last year.
She called Miller’s committee and recommendations “a good start.”
“He certainly has taken a big step and I applaud the courage he has shown by taking this step. It’s certainly more than any other Canadian bishop has done,” said Huggins. “There is still a long way to go, but he has opened the door.”
She said she would like all Canadian dioceses, including the other four in B.C., to release abuse data.
Bishop Gary Gordon of the Victoria diocese said he will be watching what happens in Vancouver, to see if the recommendations benefit victims.
Since the Pennsylvania news broke, the Victoria diocese, which covers all of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, has been holding meetings in different regions, to encourage victims to come forward.
He said the church through the bishop’s pastoral letter and talks has reached “out to victims, creating opportunities for healing and connection and that’s been going well.”
He said quantifying the extent of the abuse is “in process,” but he had no other details.
“I think it certainly could be helpful,” Gordon said of the Vancouver report. But releasing names of priests not charged with a crime would have to be in line with employee privacy laws.
Father Rectorino Tolentino of the Prince George diocese said there were “no new cases” of abuse reported there.
“Once a case comes up, we consult a lawyer, and we check whether the complaint is factual,” he said.
An online document regarding sexual abuse is dated 2010 and says, “Without announcing peoples’ faults to the world, there is a need for the church to be transparent and to co-operate with civil authorities in these matters.”
“What’s the point of publishing the names, if all the people involved are already dead?” said Tolentino.
Later he said he saw the benefit of transparency and said Bishop Stephen Jensen was still considering the issue.
In a Nov. 15 statement on its website, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops said for any abuse cases involving a minor, police must be called “without exception.”
The police would decide to name the accused, taking into account privacy legislation, the integrity of the investigation and the right of an accused to a fair trial, it said.
CLICK HERE to report a typo.
Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.