BishopAccountability.org
	Archbishop Says Behaviour of Priests Accused of Assault "Immoral and Shameful" The Tyee February 3, 2011 http://thetyee.ca/CanadianPress/2011/02/03/NS-Priest-Abuse-5844454/ A Roman Catholic archbishop in Nova Scotia has appealed for understanding from parishioners of a diocese rocked by allegations of sexual abuse by priests, calling the pastors' behaviour "criminal, immoral and shameful." In a letter to the Diocese of Yarmouth, Archbishop Anthony Mancini of Halifax called on church members to use their faith to get through this latest sex scandal involving decades-old claims against Catholic priests. "The behaviour of these priests and their failures are criminal, immoral and shameful," Mancini, the apostolic administrator of Yarmouth, said in a letter to congregants dated Jan. 24. "There is no excuse for it and there is not much that can be done to change what has happened." The open letter came a few days after it was announced that the Yarmouth diocese had reached a settlement with six people in a sex abuse case in the community in southwestern Nova Scotia. Mancini does not refer to specific cases that were settled in the letter. A lawyer with the firm representing the complainants said six of eight claims were settled with the diocese through a mediation process. The six people, whose claims were mediated separately, received varying amounts from the $1.5 million settlement, but no details were provided. Lawyer Paul Ledroit said the eight claims were filed by four men who alleged they were abused as children by Rev. Adolphe LeBlanc, and by four women who said they were victims of Rev. Eddie Theriault. Both priests are now dead. In the two-page letter, Mancini said the legal settlements will cost parishioners money intended for the upkeep of churches. "No one feels good about having to pay out settlements — yet that is the cost for the sins of our past," he wrote. "This means that as a church, we will be stretched to the limits of our capacity to pay out settlements." Marilyn Sweet, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese, said the church is still in the process of trying to settle outstanding cases. Ledroit would not say which of the eight cases were settled in the settlement announced last week. The abuse, he said, is alleged to have occurred in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s in Digby and Yarmouth counties. The victims ranged in age from three years old to about 15 or 16 during the time of the alleged abuse. Ledroit said the settlements do not contain a public admission of guilt from the diocese.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.