Catholic Priest Fired From Montreal Church For Speaking About Sexual Abuse

[Ohio Joe]

A Roman Catholic priest has come forward and said his attempts to speak about sexual abuse in the church led to his firing from Congregation of the Holy Cross in Montreal, Canada.

The priest, Rev. Andre Samson, first spoke about the church’s unfortunate history two years ago after Congregation of the Holy Cross issued an apology and paid $18 million to victims of sexual abuse.

Samson, a former military chaplain, was interrupted by his colleagues at lunch one day when he began telling them the story of an 18-year-old who had confessed to him that he was psychologically tormented after being abused by a Catholic priest when he was younger.

“The community superior became enraged,” Samson said. “He said, ‘Don’t talk about this here. It can’t be. We don’t talk about this here.’ ”

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/religion/christianity/catholicism/catholic-priest-fired-montreal-church-speaking-about-sexual#

Yay! Change in the church.... oh wait...

[Jefferson23]

1. The leakers, whistleblowers, they are the way out of the dark. K&R

[madaboutharry]

2. Denial is a beautiful river.

[MichiganVote]

3. A friendly missionary type Pope won't take away the shame stain

This church has. Victims are not fooled.

[Arugula Latte]

4. Ooooh, but this new pope is so wooooooooonderfuuuuuuuuul!

[Ohio Joe]

5. I find it interesting that those that promote him daily here in GD do not have any comment here...

Not one... It's fascinating.

[Arugula Latte]

6. Yes, very interesting.

There are certain DUers who are very, very invested in protecting the pope and the Church from any criticism, no matter how egregious the behavior of the institution. It truly makes me feel ill.

[KitSileya]

7. Not defending their reaction at all,

But if the priest was talking about things he learned under the seal of confession, he was breaking one of the most sacred principles of priesthood. He can only do that if he has permission from the person who confessed.

However, the Catholic Church's silence and stonewalling on this issue is horrific, and needs to be dealt with.