Make Your Voice Heard

By Sylvia
The Sylvia's Site
January 10, 2014

http://www.theinquiry.ca/wordpress/


Blogging the sex abuse scandal and betrayals of trust in the Roman Catholic Church in Canada.

I have posted two new  documents on the page of convicted clerical molester Father Bernard Cloutier one the victim impact statement given by Jerome Myre at Cloutier’s 24 September 2013 parole board hearing, and the other a letter Jerome received from the Vatican.  Here they are, with comment:

(1)  24 September 2013:  Jerome Myre victim impact statement given at Father Bernard Cloutier parole board hearing in Joyceville, Ontario

Well done Jerome!

For those who missed the coverage, two of Cloutier’s victims travelled to Joyceville, Ontario last September to speak out against an early parole for the convicted molester.  No doubt thanks to the intervention of these two brave men, Father Cloutier was NOT granted early parole.  Father Cloutier will remain behind bars until October of this year.  From what I can see that means he will probably be out and about after serving three years of a five year sentence, but at least it is three years, not two.

A reminder here that Jerome discovered that Father Cloutier has $300,000 in the bank, ….and his legal fees in a civil suit are being picked up by the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie!  Does that make one single ounce of sense to anyone?

(2)  10 December 2013:  Letter From Vatican to Jerome Myre re his letter to Pope Francis

Jerome wrote to Pope Francis asking that Father Cloutier and other clerical predators be defrocked.  There was no response from the Pope, but there was a response from a Monsignor Peter B. Wells advising that the letter has been sent on to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “which has competence in such matters.”

Where this may go remains to be seen, but I commend Jerome for writing the letter tot he Holy Father in the first place.  It is so important that you all write these letters – keep those in the Vatican on their toes and keep them busy dealing with and addressing the concerns of victims of clerical sexual abuse, and, if you want to see clerical molesters defrocked, send a letter to Pope Francis and tell him so.

Here is the contact information for Pope Francis:

Mailing address:

His Holiness, Pope Francis
Apostolic Palace
00120 Vatican City

I also urge you to write to your local bishop.  The bishops must start to demand that all clerical predators be defrocked, and that the Code of Canon Law be revised to ensure that these men are ousted in a timely fashion.  The names and contact info for a large number of the bishops of Canada which can be accessed by clicking here (I will go through the list now to update).

By the way, the same holds true for Brothers.  Those brothers who have molested must be dismissed from the religious order to which they belong.

Get busy everyone.  Put what you think and want to say in writing.  Make ‘them’ busy.  Make your voice heard.

Someone contacted me privately regarding a comment I posted on the following article:

08  January 2014:  “New Ulm Diocese wants list kept secret” & related article 

The query was in regard to my comment  “…if indeed they are innocent as claimed, then both should promptly initiate legal action against the diocese.”  The person who contacted thought that that is what the entire article is about, the two men/priests filing motions to asking that their names be removed from the list.

Filing a motion is not the same as initiating legal action.  All that both priests are doing here is trying to keep their names from being published.   I mean that if, as the two claim,  the bishop/diocese settled out of court and thereby conveying the message that they are molesters, and if, as they both claim, they are innocent, then they should sue the bishop and whoever else was party to brokering the settlement.

A reminder to those in the Kingston, Ontario area that the sex abuse trial of Father Rene Labelle starts this coming  Monday, 13 January 2014.  The trial is scheduled to run for one week.  Mark your calendars now.  Here are the details:

13 – 20 January 2014:   10 am, TRIAL, Frontenac Court House (5 Court Street), Kingston, Ontario

Please keep the complainant and his family in your prayers.

A new experience for me yesterday.  My keyboard went kaput!  All of a sudden I just couldn’t type.  After a bit of fiddling I decided to shut down the computer to reboot – and then was unable to sign in!

Anyway, I eventually realized that it had to be the keyboard, and thankfully had a spare.  Now I’m getting used to the new layout and shape.

Contact: francis@vatican.va