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	Ex-bishop Knew of Sex Crimes by Priest By Grant Lafleche Niagara Falls Review April 13, 2010 http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2531237 The former bishop of the St. Catharines Catholic diocese John O'Mara says he learned of the sex abuse allegations against an Ontario priest in 1992 and urged a fellow bishop to report the incidents to the Vatican. The allegations against Father Bernard Prince were reported to Rome through the Vatican's Canadian ambassador in 1993 by Pembroke Bishop Joseph Windle. In a letter to the ambassador, Windle said Prince's crimes had to be kept secret for the good of the church and claimed his recommendation had the support of Ontario bishops, including O'Mara, then the bishop of Thunder Bay. Prince was sent to the Vatican in 1991 when his crimes became known to the Pembroke diocese. Windle agreed with the transfer because it got Prince out of the Canadian Catholic scene. However, Windle was worried Prince might attract attention to himself as a Vatican official and spur his victims -- who until then had not reported the abuses -- to turn to the police or the press. Prince, a friend of the late Pope John Paul II, was convicted in 2008 of sexually molesting 13 boys between 1964 and 1984, and was defrocked by Pope Benedict XVI last year. Windle's letter become public Friday as part of a Globe and Mail report on a civil suit against the Pembroke diocese and Prince. O'Mara did not respond to requests for an interview Friday, and on Monday issued a two-paragraph statement through the St. Catharines diocese. In the statement, O'Mara said Windle informed him in late 1992 of allegations that Prince had abused children. O'Mara said Windle asked him if the incidents should be reported to the Vatican. "I encouraged Bishop Windle to report the matter and I have had no other information or involvement with respect to the situation," says O'Mara's statement. In a 1993 letter to the Vatican's ambassador in Ottawa, Windle said there were four or five known victims of Prince's abuse, and that if the priest's crimes were to become publicly known it could cause a scandal that would be damaging to the church. Windle urged the Pope not to give Prince awards or titles because the subsequent publicity would expose the wrongdoing. "The consequences of such an action would be disastrous, not only for the Canadian Church, but for the Holy See as well, given the climate which exists in Canada at this time," Windle wrote. Windle says in the letter that his assessment of the situation is backed by several Ontario Catholic bishops. He named four archbishops and two bishops, including O'Mara, who had "direct or indirect" contact with Prince, who supported Windle's recommendation. The letter does not say how or when O'Mara was involved with Prince. O'Mara's statement makes no mention of Windle's recommendation that Prince's crimes be kept secret. The St. Catharines diocese said there was nothing further on this subject beyond O'Mara's statement. O'Mara left Thunder Bay to become the bishop of St. Catharines in 1994. He held that post until 2001, when he retired and was replaced in 2002 by Bishop James Wingle. Wingle, formerly a priest in the Pembroke diocese and the bishop of Yarmouth, N.S., resigned from his Niagara post last Tuesday. In a letter to the St. Catharines diocese, Wingle said he no longer had the stamina his duties required and he is taking a sabbatical of "prayer and personal renewal." No details regarding his resignation were given, and staff at the diocese office were not told why he was leaving beyond the reasons in his letter. - - - Excerpt from BishopWindle's Letter of 1993 "... were (Prince) to be honoured in any way it could easily trigger a reaction among the victim(s), or other who are aware of his previous conduct, and this would prove extremely embarrassing both to the Holy See and to the Diocese of Pembroke ... All the bishops of Ontario who are aware of this situation (and there are several) would most certainly agree with my assessment in this regard. They include: Archbishop Ambrozic, Archbishop Spence, Archbishop Wilhem, Archbishop Gervais, Bishop O'Mara and Bishop Tonnos since each of them was involved directly or directly with Fr. Prince." - - - Statement byMost Rev. John O'Mara Bishop Emeritus of St. Catharines "On one occasion, in a private conversation, sometime late in 1992 when I was Bishop of Thunder Bay, Bishop Joseph R. Windle, Bishop of the Diocese of Pembroke, asked me whether or not he should notify the Holy See that he had received an allegation of sexual misconduct concerning Father Bernard Prince who had recently been seconded to Rome to serve the Church in an administrative position. I encouraged Bishop Windle to report the matter and I have had no other information or involvement with respect to the situation."
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