CANADA
Lifesite
by John-Henry Westen
Tue Mar 06, 2012
March 6, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The internationally-reported child porn possession case of Bishop Raymond Lahey of Antigonish, Nova Scotia is indeed a sad one for the Catholic Church. Yet from it, many valuable lessons can and indeed should be learned, not only for the benefit of the Church, but also for the building of a culture of life.
Bishop Lahey was caught with child porn on his computer at the airport in 2009. Of the 155,000 pornographic images on the computer, 588 photos and 63 videos depicted young boys in sexual acts. Lahey was sentenced this past January 4th to eighteen months in prison, but was released right after the trial since he was given two-for-one credit for the 8 months in jail he had already served.
Lahey told the court that he was a homosexual and had been in a steady homosexual relationship for 10 years. He hoped, he said, to return to this relationship after prison.
One of the first lessons to glean from this sad story is the need for effective action by fellow clergy when they have knowledge of grave scandalous actions by their brother priests or even their bishops. How many of his fellow clergy, his brother bishops, his close friends and colleagues knew of Bishop Lahey’s dark secret – not only the porn addiction, but also his homosexual relationships and his repeated trips to Thailand, widely known as a major destination for those wanting to engage in pedophile adult/child sex?
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.