CANADA
Nunatsiaq Online
JIM BELL
OTTAWA — As long as fugitive priest Joannes Rivoire, 85, remains at large in France, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate should not be allowed to celebrate their 200th anniversary in peace, a small group of activists declared June 29 in Ottawa.
Inuit leader Piita Irniq, along with human rights activist Lieve Halsberghe and supporter Susie Utatnaaq, a former Baker Lake resident who now lives in Ottawa, gathered in front of the Edifice Deschâtelets, a building in Old Ottawa East that once stood at the centre of Roman Catholic power in eastern Ontario and served as a training school for many Oblate missionaries.
Irniq alleges that Rivoire’s sexual abuse of his lifelong friend Marius Tungilik contributed to the trauma that led to Tungilik’s death in 2012 at age 55.
While standing in front of the Oblate building, Irniq and his supporters displayed photos of Tungilik, including a photo taken of him in Naujaat when he was aged about 14.
“Father Rivoire is the reason why Marius died. I truly believe that. And that is what Marius believed as well and that is why he drank. He could never get over Father Rivoire,” Irniq said.
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