Mancini Were Going to Figure It out, Laura Fraser, The ChronicleHerald, October 2, 2009

Mancini: "We’re Going to Figure It out"

By Laura Fraser
The Chronicle-Herald
October 2, 2009

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1145443.html

Archbishop Anthony Mancini and Rev. Paul Abbass speak with reporters Thursday in Sydney River in the wake of Bishop Raymond Lahey’s arrest on child pornography charges.
Photo by LAURA FRASER / Cape Breton Bureau

SYDNEY RIVER — The Archbishop of Halifax had expected to talk to reporters Thursday about his plans for the Diocese of Antigonish in the wake of Bishop Raymond Lahey’s sudden resignation last weekend.

Instead, Archbishop Anthony Mancini ended up closeted with the media at the exact moment that Bishop Lahey turned himself in to Ottawa police to face charges of possessing and importing child pornography.

"I’m glad to hear it," he told about 20 reporters packed into the basement of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church. "Now it puts the end to the speculation about whether or not he’s a fugitive. He’s not anymore, and he never was.

"I hope this will help everyone come to a better (understanding) about what’s taken place."

Speaking firmly into the microphones and television cameras, the archbishop then talked of the parishioners of the Antigonish diocese whose faith may have been shattered by the allegations against their former bishop.

It makes sense that people would question their belief in the church today, Archbishop Mancini said.

"I’m going to say that, for a moment or two, I may have had that thought cross my head as well over the last few days because this is a hard thing to deal with," he said. "But faith is something that is a lot stronger, and I think it can even withstand some of these difficulties.

"The only thing I know is that right now some people are shocked, some people are hurt, some people don’t know what to do, including some of us. But together we’re going to figure it out."

Radical changes will have to take place within the church to regain people’s faith and prevent further abuse, Archbishop Mancini said. But when asked whether those changes could include ordaining female priests or allowing male priests to marry, he said he didn’t think so.

"If we could do that tomorrow, we would (still) not be eliminating the temptations that bring people to live secret lives," he said.

In 1989, a Canadian Press report from an inquiry into the sexual abuse of boys at the Mount Cashel orphanage in Newfoundland mentioned an incident with Bishop Lahey. Shane Earle told a reporter that he became violently depressed and tried to commit suicide after seeing something in the bishop’s home that deeply disturbed him.

Archbishop Mancini told reporters Thursday that he knew nothing about that report.

But he said he can guarantee tighter screening of priests or volunteers within the Catholic Church in the future. Criminal background checks and letters of recommendation will likely become mandatory, he said.

It’s unclear who will pay Bishop Lahey’s legal fees in the criminal case. The church would typically cover the court costs but Archbishop Mancini said these are unusual circumstances and he doesn’t know what will happen.

The $15-million legal settlement announced two months ago for victims who had been abused by priests in the Antigonish diocese dating back to 1950 will go ahead as planned, he said.

Archbishop Mancini acknowledged that the allegations against Bishop Lahey may have somewhat tainted the healing process for the victims.

"It’s difficult because everyone, including me, thinks that perhaps it was not as positively motivated, as authentically understood, as we all would have liked to have believed," he said. "But the action itself remains valid."

Contact: lfraser@herald.ca