By Dan Arsenault and Eva Hoare
The Chronicle-Herald
October 1, 2009
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1145259.html
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| Archbiship Anthony Mancini: 'The Pope would have to know what the grave cause is. And I have to assume, since he responded and accepted Bishop Lahey’s resignation, that the Pope knew the gravity of the matter.'
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The Archbishop of Halifax says he was stunned to hear that Bishop Raymond Lahey is facing child pornography charges, and it’s the bishop’s duty to surrender.
"It’s one (feeling) of sadness and shock, and you know, quite devastating to be faced with this kind of revelation," Archbishop Anthony Mancini said Wednesday evening, hours after learning that the former bishop of the Diocese of Antigonish is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant on charges of possessing and importing child pornography.
"This wasn’t an expected (situation) . . . it’s just become an added level of difficulty with great impact."
Ottawa police laid the charges last Friday, 10 days after Bishop Lahey’s laptop computer was checked at the Ottawa airport as he was returning from the U.S. That’s when police found "images of concern." Bishop Lahey was originally released but an arrest warrant is now out for him.
Archbishop Mancini said he called Bishop Lahey on his cellphone earlier Wednesday but didn’t know where the bishop was at the time.
"I called him on a cellphone number that he had. I called him and spoke to him for about a couple of minutes . . . to let him know, in spite of all this stuff, we’re trying to hold him up in our prayers and try to be of some support to the man.
"No matter how (troubling) these things . . . are and how imperfect we may be, we are members of the same church and fraternity of bishops and I wanted him to know that."
He said he thinks Bishop Lahey is still in Canada and he is concerned about him.
"He certainly indicated to me that he was not feeling very good at this point," the archbishop said. "He had heard very little, actually. I think I had heard more through the news bulletins than he did.
"Is he experiencing fear? He didn’t say that to me. I have no idea. I would think that most human beings, being human, they would experience disorientation and wondering what’s going to happen next. One’s life falls apart in this circumstance, doesn’t it?"
The archbishop said it is Bishop Lahey’s duty to present himself to the authorities and let the legal process begin.
"I don’t imagine he has a whole lot of choice of what he may do."
An Ottawa police spokesman said Wednesday evening that Bishop Lahey had not yet contacted them.
"He’s being sought," the spokesman said.
Bishop Lahey resigned last weekend as bishop of the Antigonish diocese. The archbishop said Pope Benedict would had to have known the circumstances surrounding the resignation, as Bishop Lahey would have been required to cite his reasons for leaving his post.
"The Pope would have to know what the grave cause is," Archbishop Mancini said in an interview with CTV. "And I have to assume, since he responded and accepted Bishop Lahey’s resignation, that the Pope knew the gravity of the matter."
But the archbishop said he didn’t know the bishop was in trouble with the law when he received word of his resignation, and he doesn’t think anyone in the bishop’s diocese knew either. They only heard he was leaving for personal reasons.
"That is the only thing we knew . . . on Saturday, when the message was put out."
The archbishop said he hopes parishioners and the public will realize that the church is made up of all kinds of people.
"The church is a church made up of people who are having problems and having difficulties," he said. "That’s the whole point of the Gospel to begin with. You don’t preach that stuff as long as he has and all of a sudden it all goes away. It won’t go away.
"There but for the grace of God go any number of people."
Archbishop Mancini said he expects to hear a lot when he travels to Sydney today to meet with church officials. He is to be briefed on a recently struck $15-million settlement with victims of sexual abuse by the diocese’s priests dating back nearly 60 years.
But now there will be more conversation, he said.
"I’m going to try to bring them some kind of words of encouragement. ‘Look, I’m as devastated as you are,’ " he said.
A spokesman for the Diocese of Antigonish said the charges must have prompted Bishop Lahey’s abrupt resignation.
"I guess we know now what the personal reasons were," Rev. Paul Abbass said.
Father Abbass, of St. Mary’s Parish in Frenchvale, Cape Breton, said Wednesday he was shocked at the allegation that federal inspectors found pornographic images of children on the bishop’s laptop.
"I don’t want to be pious and I don’t want to offer platitudes as if to say this isn’t significant," he said. "This is incredibly significant.
"I always had a good deal of respect for him — for his leadership, for his abilities to engage with people, to listen."
Father Abbass said he doesn’t know how he feels about the man now.
"I have so many mixed feelings at this point," he said. "I think it’s too early to know that."
The allegations against Bishop Lahey have not been proven in court.
Father Abbass said priests in the diocese will be devastated.
"I think they’re probably very concerned about their people and how hurtful and harmful this will be to the people," he said. "I think this is going to have a significant impact on so many people."
He said some people might stop attending church in light of the news, which came within weeks of the sexual abuse settlement being reached. Bishop Lahey helped to negotiate the settlement.
"I’m sure, for some, this will be the last straw, or for others it may be too heavy a burden," Father Abbass said.
The survivors of the sexual abuse might also suffer from this development.
"I think this will have just one more difficult impact on the survivors (of abuse) who we were reaching out to in hoping to move past a very painful chapter in our lives," Father Abbass said. "They’re (in) my immediate thoughts."
Father Abbass asked all Nova Scotians to pray for everyone involved.
"I don’t see that it is anything more than prayer that will continue any form of healing," he said.
In the letter of resignation he released on Sunday, Bishop Lahey said: "I recognize that my resignation takes place at a time when the diocese is facing a variety of demanding challenges."
"While I will no longer be with you on this journey, I am confident that your faith and compassion will continue to sustain you as they have always done.
"I have already left the diocese to take some much-needed time for personal renewal."
His replacement has yet to be named.
Contact: darsenault@herald.ca or ehoare@herald.ca
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