CANADA
Catholic Online
By Deborah Gyapong
5/3/2006
Catholic News Service (www.catholicnews.com)
OTTAWA, Canada – The judge presiding over an inquiry into allegations of child sexual abuse has ruled that a local Catholic diocese is a public institution – a decision that delights alleged victims but concerns others.
In a ruling handed down May 1, Justice G. Normand Glaude said that in response to abuse allegations in Cornwall, Ontario, the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall "is allegedly one of the most significant players in this matter."
In a May 1 statement, Glaude said the diocese is a public institution because of its objectives "such as providing assistance to the poor, strengthening and promoting education, promoting community values, and the elimination of disease and sickness."
Glaude is responsible for presiding over the Cornwall Public Inquiry, which is investigating the response of public institutions and the events surrounding decades of child sex abuse allegations in Cornwall. The Ontario government set up the inquiry in April 2005.