CANADA
Nunatsiaq Online
DAVID MURPHY
In Nunavut court Jan. 22, Crown prosecutor Doug Curliss grilled Eric Dejaeger on his work at St. Stephen’s Catholic Church in Igloolik between 1978 and 1982, questioning what he did as a priest during his time there.
Dejaeger returned to the witness box on the morning of Jan. 22 so Crown prosecutors could begin their cross-examination of the former Oblate missionary, who gave evidence in his own defence Jan. 21.
The trial began in November 2013. Since then, Dejaeger has pleaded guilty to eight counts on the 80-count indictment. Another four charges have since been dismissed by Justice Robert Kilpatrick, who is handling the trial on his own, without a jury.
Curliss asked several times if Dejaeger ever heard confessions as part of his job with the church — Dejaeger replied that he never did.
That could be because he could not speak Inuktitut — even though he spoke English, as well as most people his age and younger at the church, he said.
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