PETERBOROUGH (ONTARIO, CANADA)
The Peterborough Examiner
January 4, 2018
By Rosemary Ganley
I once again take up the topic of reform in the Catholic church, because I’m a kind of an insider/outsider, a Pope-watcher, and an analyst who knows the immense power and global reach of this church. And the sad effects of its mistaken teachings and practices.
There were two items in recent news: one the death of American Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, age 86, who, after being indicted on charges related to his cover-up of clergy sex abuse against children, fled to Rome in 2002 and was put in charge of a major church. Remember the courageous journalism of the Boston Globe and the subsequent film Spotlight.
Here is what Canadian politician Charlie Angus, NDP MP from Cobalt, had to say in an anguished post:
“I learned my lessons in faith and justice in the church. I remember pastors organizing over the grape boycott for farmworkers. I was working at a Catholic Worker house when the sexual abuse scandals first came to light. They were stunning revelations, but even more stunning was to see powerful men who were supposed to follow the words of Jesus suppress, cover-up and protect serial predators. Cardinal Law was eventually brought down by a grand jury indictment, but protected by Pope John Paul II. He was a disgrace to everything Jesus stood for. Good riddance.”
In Canada, we had our own searing scandal at Mount Cashel orphanage in Newfoundland 40 years ago, where 300 young persons alleged physical and sexual abuse by the Christian Brothers, cover-up by churchmen and police collusion.
The Newfoundland government ordered an inquiry and the report in 1992 by former Lt.-Gov. Gordon Winter caused the Archbishop, Alphonsus Penney to resign, the orphanage to be closed and razed, some priests to go to jail and the churches largely to be emptied.
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