CANADA
Washington Post
By Doug Struck
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, June 27, 2005; Page A09
STEPHENVILLE, Newfoundland -- In the hardscrabble fishing villages of this remote island, the Rev. Kevin Bennett was "like a god. He was more important than a cop," and more feared than parents, recalled a former altar boy, who was one of his victims. Dozens of boys kept Bennett's secret as he ordered each into his bed to fondle and rape them.
Now, 16 years after the priest was publicly accused and sent to prison, a $10.5 million settlement reached last month over the sexual abuse claims of 39 former altar boys is causing the Catholic diocese here to prepare to put its churches, parish halls and priests' homes up for sale.
Catholic villagers across this huge, poor swath of western Newfoundland are learning the long reach of these priestly abuses, some committed decades ago. They might lose the tiny parish chapels and meeting halls where relatives and neighbors have long been christened, married, celebrated and buried.
"We always thought we owned the church," said Theresa LaCosta, 78, who lives down the hill from Our Lady of Fatima Church in Piccadilly, a cluster of poor homes with rich views of the emerald hills that plunge into St. George's Bay. She said her husband, now deceased, had badly hurt his back while helping to lay the church foundation. "He had to stop fishing because of it. Now they are going to take the church away?"