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	Bishop Rips Media Frenzy By Jorge Barrera jorge.barrera@ott.sunpub.com Ottawa Sun [Canada] February 15, 2006 http://ottsun.canoe.ca/News/OttawaAndRegion/2006/02/15/1443172-sun.html The Catholic Church is unfairly persecuted by the media for the actions of a few pedophile priests, said the bishop of the diocese at the centre of the Cornwall child sex scandal that led to an inquiry under way this week. Alexandria-Cornwall Bishop Paul-Andre Durocher said the church does good work which never gets headlines. "Sometimes, I find it unfair in terms of the lack of reporting about what good is being done by the great majority of priests," said Durocher, bishop for the past three years. "So the very good priests, their efforts and work are left in the shadows, while a few bad apples get all the attention." The bishop admitted the focus on pedophile priests has forced the church to change its ways. Testimony from child sex abuse victims during the inquiry will not erode the already tattered credibility of the diocese, said Durocher. Instead, he said it will exonerate the local church. "I am not sure it is a question of salvaging the church's credibility," said Durocher, 51. "I am convinced a lot of the rumours were groundless. I am looking forward for the inquiry to clear this up." On its second day, the inquiry heard yesterday that men who were sexually abused as children have virtually nowhere to turn. "More public awareness for men -- in other words, how to access proper services and of course, to provide those proper services -- is very needed," said Dr. David Wolfe, a psychiatry and psychology professor at the University of Toronto. Only one organization in the province provided help for male victims of sexual assault, the inquiry was told. LOOK AT POLICE ACTION Pedophiles may be more able to prey upon children and get away with it in smaller communities like Cornwall, a blue-collar city of 46,000 bordering Quebec and New York, especially if they are highly regarded, Wolfe also testified. The inquiry is examining how authorities, including Cornwall police, the Ontario Provincial Police and the Children's Aid Society, responded to persistent allegations that children had been sexually abused at the hands of prominent members of the Cornwall community for nearly a half-century. After a sweeping investigation known as Project Truth in 2000, police laid 114 charges against 15 people, including a doctor, a lawyer and three members of the Roman Catholic clergy. Only three cases made it to court, with one man pleading guilty. Experts on child abuse will dominate the witness stand in the inquiry's early going. Testimony specific to alleged abuse begins near the end of March. The inquiry, slated to last until the end of November, resumes today. jorge.barrera@ott.sunpub.com
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