Former Archbishop of Halifax Will Let Bishop Stay in Residence for Priests in Ottawa
By Patricia Brooks
The Chronicle-Herald
October 10, 2009
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1146942.html
Bishop Raymond Lahey has a place to lay his hat.
It's in Ottawa, in the diocese of his friend Terrence Prendergast, who was archbishop of Halifax from 1999 to 2007, when he was appointed archbishop of Ottawa.
Archbishop Prendergast issued a news release Friday explaining his decision to allow the former head of the Diocese of Antigonish to stay in a priests residence on Kilborn Place.
"When Bishop Lahey called our diocesan offices on Wednesday afternoon, he was facing very few — practically no — options with respect to a residence in Ottawa," the archbishop wrote.
"In Christian charity, and believing that it was the action that the Lord would want us to take, I have accepted that he stay (there)."
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| Terrence Prendergast lights a candle at Saint Mary’s Basilica during his last service in Halifax in June 2007. Archbishop Prendergast is now archbishop of Ottawa, and has agreed to let Bishop Raymond Lahey live with priests in his Ottawa diocese while awaiting trial on child pornography charges. Photo by Eric Wynne |
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Bishop Lahey, who is facing child pornography charges in Ottawa, was released on bail and ordered to live at a New Brunswick monastery, but it refused his entry. On Friday, a judge granted Bishop Lahey's request to live in Ottawa until his trial, after residents in the New Brunswick town where he was staying complained about his presence. His next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 4.
The bishop will be monitored closely while in Ottawa, and anyone he may come in contact with will be made aware of his strict bail conditions, said Ottawa police Det. Dan Melchiorre.
"A lot of (the bail conditions) have to do with the Internet, computers," Det. Melchiorre told reporters after Lahey's brief court appearance. "Obviously there's other conditions in there about being with children under the age of 18."
Bishop Lahey surrendered his passport to police Friday and will have to report to authorities every two weeks, beginning Oct. 17.
The bishop was charged after border agents at the Ottawa airport discovered graphic sexual images of young boys on his laptop computer as he was returning from an out-of-country trip Sept. 15.
The decision to lay charges against the bishop was not made lightly, said Det. Melchiorre.
He described how investigators determine whether a criminal offence has occurred as they sift through computer images downloaded from the Internet.
"The Internet is vast, and (people) may come across one image that is potentially illegal," said Detc. Melchiorre. "I'm not saying that is good, but I'm saying it can happen. And it's up to us to investigate to make sure that in these cases that there's no doubt in our mind that the issue is the charges are sustainable in court."
Archbishop Prendergast said in the news release that he was aware of the charges and "aware of how deeply this matter has saddened and shaken our Catholic brothers and sisters.
"I ask you to join me in seeking that strength and peace which only Jesus Christ can give and to support each other in prayer."
The archbishop also "pledged our complete co-operation with those responsible for the administration of justice in this case."
In June 2003, then-bishop Prendergast and a representative of the pope led Raymond Lahey to the bishop's chair in a ceremony installing him as bishop of the Diocese of Antigonish. Bishop Lahey was then placed in charge of 130,000 Catholics in Pictou, Antigonish, Guysborough and Cape Breton and named chancellor of St. Francis Xavier University.
Contact: pbrooks@herald.ca
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