CANADA
National Post
Father Tim Moyle Feb 9, 2012
I noted with sadness the other day obituaries published in the wake of the death of Angelo Dundee, the man who trained Muhammad Ali to become heavyweight boxing champion of the world more than once. From the ‘float like a butterfly’ days of his early victories over Sonny Liston and Joe Frasier, to the ‘rope-a-dope’ tactics that felled the Goliath George Foreman, all the way to the spanking of Leon Spinks, Dundee guided Ali to victory after victory. Those epic contests of brawn and will captured the attention and admiration of the world like no other sporting event, lifting Ali to a status unmatched as a global icon. And he couldn’t have done it without Dundee.
Given the body shots that the Roman Catholic Church has been absorbing through the ‘Long Lent’ of the sex abuse scandals, Angelo would be a welcome voice at the current Vatican conference designed to share best practices and protocols throughout the Church. Seeming to reel after being pummeled by the multiple revelations of clergy malfeasance, the faithful in Canada can ill afford to receive any below the belt shots as she has suffered at the hands of some who are trying to knock them out of the fight altogether.
Such is the case recently on a Canadian blog dedicated to exposing these scandals and the indolent manner in which they have been handled by bishops in times past. Springing out of the Cornwall Abuses allegations and Inquiry in the 1990’s, its author Sylvia MacEachern has successfully held Canadian bishops feet to the fire to ensure they put into practice the justice they promise to bring to wounded victims. She’s been an effective ‘cut-man’ in the Church’s corner. However, she may have crossed a line recently with recent allegations she has published involving a Maritime bishop and a local accused priest.
Bishop Robert Harris of St. John, New Brunswick is accused on the blog of placing the city’s children at risk by not directly taking to the priest’s parish to indicate that he was being removed due to allegations of child abuse. Instead, he fulfilled both the letter and spirit of Church protocol for removing any accused cleric from office and public ministry. Bishop Harris chose to do so without inflicting a body blow to the priest’s reputation that comes with the taint of scandal until a complete police investigation was conducted. He permitted the priest to step aside on leave for ‘personal reasons’ which preserved the priest’s reputation and the safety of the congregation’s children. Any priest in such a situation is denied the right to publicly minister or celebrate the sacraments effectively removing his from coming into contact with children throughout the Diocese.
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