(CANADA)
CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) [Toronto, Canada]
August 28, 2026
By Ryan Cooke
Gemma Hickey says it’s beyond time for the church to take the lead on exposing abuse
Gemma Hickey is tired of waiting for the Roman Catholic Church to take the lead on exposing clergy abuse.
A longtime advocate and abuse survivor, Hickey is calling on church officials in Newfoundland and Labrador to open the books on the use of an Ontario therapy centre in the wake of a recent CBC News story.
They want to see an independent examination of records related to the church’s reliance on the Southdown Institute to house and rehabilitate abusive priests from Newfoundland.
“All of us continue to pay the price for these sins, and it’s time for the church to be open about all of it in whatever way they can in order to be sure this isn’t happening anymore,” Hickey said.
CBC News reported earlier this week on a series of letters from 1970 that were included in a new court filing in Grand Falls-Windsor. The letters show the bishop of Grand Falls learned of allegations against a priest in the rural community of Baie Verte, and sent the priest to Southdown for treatment.
WATCH | ‘It’s time for the church to be open about all of it,’ Hickey says of abuse and alleged abuse cases:
See original article for video
Kelly returned to the altar, and would go on to abuse multiple children before being convicted of sexual assault in 1987.
The letters did not come to light during the criminal proceedings, nor were they surfaced by the Winter Commission into clergy abuse in 1989-90.
Instead, they were surfaced by Guardian Insurance as part of a process in which the company could seek to void the diocese’s policy for material non-disclosure and/or misrepresentation.
“That’s the sad thing about this, right?” Hickey said. “It’s because it all comes down to money and the bottom line. It’s not the church coming forward with it. It’s the insurance company.”
Southdown has been in operation since 1965. It has treated clergy for a range of issues, including alcoholism and depression. But it’s also been home to a list of Newfoundland priests accused of sexual misconduct.
In total, the Winter Commission report referenced five Newfoundland priests who were sent to Southdown, including four who were accused of inappropriate relationships with minors. A search of court decisions shows at least five other priests who faced criminal charges spent time at Southdown, including Father Kevin Bennett and Father George Ansel Smith.
Bennett — who was convicted in 1990 and sentenced to four years in prison for abusing boys in rural parishes — was sent to Southdown in 1979.
“It seems … Father Bennett had refused treatment and that the diocese had chosen to allow him to remain as a parish priest, in which capacity he remained for the next 10 years,” reads a decision by Justice William Goodridge from a civil case in 2000.
Hickey, who is president of the international group Ending Clergy Abuse, said the church’s records on these situations are crucial to understand who was sent away and why, as well as what recommendations were made and whether or not those recommendations were followed.
Hickey said they’ve spoken to people within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church who want such records released.
“We’re hearing from people very high up who are interested in and really want this type of exposure but they just keep hitting walls every single time they try,” Hickey said.
The result, Hickey said, is a lack of information that leaves uncertainty about whether or not the problem of clergy abuse is truly a thing of the past. It also causes agony for those with lived experience.
“Many of the people who abuse us within the church get to retire and move on with their lives and it’s the survivors who live in a prison of memories and they’re triggered constantly because this never goes away, because it’s not properly dealt with.”
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Ryan Cooke is a justice affairs reporter based in St. John’s. He can be reached at ryan.cooke@cbc.ca.