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	Class-Action Suit Filed against Roman Catholic Diocese in N.s. over Alleged Abuse Canadian Press June 25, 2008 http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5h0THNSm22Qb45efIq7ZM-h0d7f4w HALIFAX — The brother of a man whose suicide note led to charges of sex crimes against a Nova Scotia priest has filed a class action against the Diocese of Antigonish, claiming it failed to protect the children in its care when it became aware of the abuse. The class action, filed Tuesday by Ronald Martin, also names the Roman Catholic Church and a church official. Martin's brother, David, committed suicide in April 2002, leaving behind a note that sparked a criminal investigation and charges of rape, buggery and indecent assault against former priest Hugh Vincent MacDonald. The charges involved 18 children between the ages of eight to 15. MacDonald, who served in various parishes in Pictou, Guysborough and Antigonish counties and in Cape Breton, was facing 27 charges when he died in 2004. Halifax lawyer John McKiggan filed three separate civil lawsuits against the diocese soon after MacDonald died and the criminal charges were withdrawn. The class action, also prepared by McKiggan, was filed under Nova Scotia's new Class Proceedings Act and announced in a release Tuesday. The class action, which contains allegations not yet proven in court, involves claims that MacDonald and several other priests were sexually abusing children in their care between 1962 and this year. The diocese could not be reached for comment Tuesday. The lawsuit claims that the diocese sent priests for treatment for "sexual deviations" while failing to disclose their behaviour to the proper authorities. "The priest abuse scandals across North America have raised serious questions of how these kinds of horrible crimes against children could happen again and again in parish after parish over several decades," McKiggan said in a statement. "This lawsuit alleges that there was a worldwide conspiracy of silence within the Roman Catholic Church and that the church's policy of secrecy resulted in sexually abusive priests in the Antigonish diocese being able to molest children ... without fear of public exposure." Fifteen years ago, McKiggan filed lawsuits against the diocese after two priests were convicted of sexually assaulting more than a dozen boys in their parishes in the 1960s and 1970s. "Unfortunately, this is more of the same," said McKiggan. "The same pattern of secrecy; the same lack of accountability." In an open letter to other potential plaintiffs, Ronald Martin tells of how his family was shocked when his brother took his own life. "He was married, had two wonderful sons, a thriving construction business on the West Coast of Canada and the world seemed to be his oyster," he wrote. "Although David outwardly appeared to have a great life, there always seemed to be something missing. ... He suffered from alcohol addiction, a failed marriage and never seemed to be able to have a real father-son relationship with his boys, although it was certain that he loved them deeply." In the letter, Ronald Martin says that he, too, was the victim of abuse. "I like many of you have lived in silence carrying this horrible secret through every day of my life. ... I made a vow to my brother that I would see justice served, that the church and its representatives would be held accountable for his death."
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