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  New Bishop Faces Challenge

Chronicle-Herald
January 27, 2010

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Editorial/1164423.html

CANADA -- GIVEN the circumstances, the installation of the new Bishop of the Diocese of Antigonish on Monday was both appropriately low key and, in Bishop Brian Dunn's remarks, painfully forthright about the depth of the hurt caused by the scandals that have rocked the faith of many in the local Catholic community.

Bishop Dunn, to his credit, didn't mince words about the task before him. The lawsuits for sexual abuse of children by diocese priests that will cost the Church perhaps $18 million to settle, and the subsequent criminal charges brought against his predecessor, Bishop Raymond Lahey, for possession of child pornography, have left an "atmosphere of distrust, suspicion and second guessing" that he will attempt to heal, Bishop Dunn said.

The ninth bishop of the diocese — from Newfoundland originally, moving from a posting in Ontario — compared the occasion of the ceremony at St. Ninian's Cathedral to the gathering of "a family of faith experiencing a tragedy."

With the dicoese set to sell off all its non-core assets over the next three years to try to raise the money needed to compensate the victims, Bishop Dunn's challenge, to nuture reconciliation while reminders of the scandals are ever present, will be a daunting one.

His blunt honesty about the depth of the "scar" left by the scandals is the right beginning.

For the good of parishioners, and community, we hope he is successful.

( edits@herald.ca)

 
 

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