VANCOUVER (CANADA)
Vancouver Sun
Nov. 18, 2019
By Susan Lazaruk
The Vancouver headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church is expected to release 31 recommendations on Friday to locally address what it calls “the worldwide crisis” of sexual abuse by priests.
The recommendations were submitted by a committee that reviewed church records to determine the extent of clerical abuse in the archdiocese of Vancouver, which presides over 443,000 parishioners in Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Powell River and parts of the Interior and northern B.C.
Vancouver Archbishop Michael Miller appointed the 13-person committee after news in 2018 of a grand jury naming 300 priests accused of abusing 1,000 victims in Pennsylvania. The Vancouver committee, which included “highly respected lawyers,” a psychologist and four abuse survivors, reviewed 36 sexual abuse cases dating to 1950.
Miller didn’t respond to an interview request.
“The archdiocese of Vancouver will be publishing all 31 recommendations of the case review committee, our response to each recommendation and our future commitment with respect to supporting victims and survivors,” said spokeswoman Melissa Godbout in an email.
The committee submitted its recommendations in the summer and the archdiocese “has been working determinedly to implement these recommendations,” said Godbout.
She wouldn’t say whether or not the archdiocese would name offending priests, as called for by advocates for the survivors.
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