Letter: Vatican and Canadian Church Tried to Keep Sexual Abuse Claim Secret

[Bluebear]

The victim, a 53-year-old who cannot be identified because of a court publication ban, said the Pembroke diocese clearly knew of allegations against the priest a year before Prince became a top Vatican official in 1991.

''That's the sad thing. He was promoted,'' the victim said.


TORONTO (AP) -- A letter written by a late Canadian bishop shows church officials in Canada knew of sexual abuse allegations involving a priest before his promotion to a top Vatican post and then discussed with Vatican officials how to keep the scandal from becoming public.

The four-page letter was written on Feb. 10, 1993 by the late Bishop Joseph Windle of Pembroke, Ontario, and sent to the pope's envoy to Canada, Carlo Curis. Its contents were released this week as an exhibit in a civil lawsuit.

The letter raised concerns about Monsignor Bernard Prince, a friend of the late Pope John Paul II. Prince served as secretary-general of the Vatican's Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith, which works with missionary societies, from 1991 until he retired in 2004.

Windle advised the Vatican to avoid honoring or promoting Prince in any way because it might anger abuse victims and lead them to file criminal charges or civil lawsuits.

''The consequences of such an action would be disastrous, not only for the Canadian church but for the Holy See as well,'' the bishop wrote.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/04/09/world/AP-Church-Abuse-Canada.html

[Captain Hilts]

1. Convicted pedophile back coaching youth hockey

http://www.justicemonitor.ca/grahamjames.htm

[Bluebear]

3. not good

[Bluebear]

4. .

[Vexatious Ape]

2. Why

Why would anyone would want to associate them self with that damn church, that sick relic of the middle ages, is beyond me. The crimes committed by that organization going back through the centuries are to numerous to count.