CANADA
The Catholic Register
BY MICHAEL SWAN, THE CATHOLIC REGISTER
September 19, 2014
With a guilty verdict on child-sex charges against former missionary priest Eric Dejaeger, Bishop Tony Krotki hopes the people of Igloolik in the diocese of Churchill-Hudson Bay will be able to continue healing with support from the Church and away from the media spotlight of a lurid, wrenching trial.
Dejaeger, a former Belgian Oblate, was a priest in Igoloolik from 1978 to 1982. He pled guilty last December to eight of 70 charges but, despite the passage of more than 30 years, there was suf-ficient evidence to find Dejaeger guilty on a total of 24 counts.
The slow and winding path of the criminal justice system left Dejaeger’s victims reliving the darkest days of their childhoods over and over, Krotki told The Catholic Register in an email.
“They had to go through it with lawyers, then with police, then in court more than once. And at the end the media reminded them time and time again,” Krotki said. “It was devastating and agonizing.”
Krotki himself served as pastor in Igloolik, years after Dejaeger’s time, and became close to some families who brought charges against Dejaeger.
“Their lives are always on my mind. Their families are always in my thoughts. They are so present in my heart,” Krotki said. “I am still waiting for the moment to let them know how dear they are to me.”
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