Church expert confirms there was option for priest to deal with abuse reports

By Barb Sweet
Telegram
June 14, 2016

http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2016-06-14/article-4559283/Church-expert-confirms-there-was-option-for-priest-to-deal-with-abuse-reports/1

A parish priest at Mount Cashel in the 1950s would have been aware of an option to deal outside the secrecy of confession with a boy's report of sexual abuse by a Christian Brother, an expert on canon law agreed  in court this morning.

Fr. Francis Morrissey of Ottawa concluded his testimony at the civil trial in Newfoundland Supreme Court before the lunch break.

While being cross-examined by former orphanage residents' lawyer Geoff Budden, Morrissey confirmed the seal of confession is so strong if someone confessed to poisoning the communion wine, a priest would have no choice but to serve the wine, short of dropping it.

However, when asked about an agreed statement of facts, in which a Mount Cashel boy reported in confession to the parish priest on the orphanage site he had been sexually touched by a Brother, Morrissey agreed there was an option.

That option was for the priest to tell the boy to report it to the Brother Superior. However, if the child was reluctant, the priest could ask the boy to give the information to him outside confession.

Once outside confession, the priest was free to take the information to the Brother Superior or the appropriate authorities, Morrissey agreed.

Morrissey was never a priest in Newfoundland, so noted he has no direct knowledge of the events focused on in the trial.

Some 60 victims of physical and sexual abuse by certain members of the lay order Christian Brothers during the period late 1940s to early '60s say the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corp. should be held liable for what happened to them.

The church contends it wasn't responsible because it did not oversee Mount Cashel.

Follow @bsweettweets for live updates from the courtroom.

Full story to come later online and in print Wednesday.