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	Sale of Catholic Church Properties to Cover Abuse Settlements Goes on By Monica Graham The Chronicle-Herald January 16, 2011 http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1222273.html PICTOU — "We have to raise it, there's no question," a Roman Catholic said Saturday. Gerald McGuire, of Stella Maris Parish in Pictou, was referring to the $18 million pledged by the Diocese of Antigonish to settle with victims of sexual abuse allegedly committed by priests. Parishes have already forwarded any available cash to the fund, McGuire said. Now a disused convent in the parish has been sold. It was listed for $50,000, but church officials haven't released the purchase price. The convent is one of 18 church-owned properties in northeastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton being sacrificed to help cover a $15 million class-action settlement brokered by former Bishop Raymond Lahey, who is facing trial in May on charges of importing and possessing child pornography in 2009. Another $3 million will go towards settling individual suits against the church. The sales completed so far and the properties still listed will generate about $5 million, less than a third of the diocesan commitment. They include coveted waterfront lots in Cape Breton, land at Creignish Mountain and the former pastoral centre in Sydney, among others. The remaining properties, listed at bit.ly/dGcUbQ, are located in Cape Breton, Antigonish, Guysborough and Victoria counties. More may be added as a diocesan committee reviews the fund's progress and decides which other properties might be sold, McGuire said. Parishes have the first chance to buy the properties before they are listed publicly, diocesan spokesman Rev. Paul Abbass told The Chronicle Herald last month. The settlement aims at addressing a past injustice, he said then. Parishioners support compensating the people who publicly accused clergy of sexual abuse dating back to the 1950s, said Roman Catholics who spoke on condition of anonymity. However, some feel the Vatican could afford to pay for the actions of its priests without having to take the resources from a poorer diocese, they said. Contact: mgraham@herald.ca
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