VANCOUVER (CANADA)
Bernadette Howell's Blog [North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada]
February 11, 2026
By Bernadette Howell
Breaking silence. Confronting clergy abuse.
I am baffled, as no doubt many of you are, by the high numbers of individuals holding positions of power and authority who all knew what Jeffrey Epstein was doing, yet who ignored it.
Simply put, I am astounded by the sheer multitude who said nothing, shirked personal responsibility by ignoring their moral duty, and turned a blind eye to protect themselves while failing to protect the young and vulnerable.
Yesterday, the media ran articles about a newly uncovered file from the U.S. Justice Department’s latest release of Epstein files (and of course, there are thousands more files still not released). In particular, the focus yesterday was on an FBI interview with Donald Trump, undertaken in 2006 when Epstein’s first sex crime charges became public. The file notes that Trump called the Palm Beach police chief and was cited as saying:
“Thank goodness you’re stopping him; everyone has known he’s been doing this.”
Never mind that in later years, Trump repeatedly said he had no knowledge of Epstein’s sex trafficking scheme and abuse of underage girls. Or that four years earlier, before that phone conversation, Trump told The New York Times that he’d known Epstein for fifteen years, calling him a “terrific guy,” and adding, “it is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
But this kind of news we already know.
For we are all appalled by what hits our TV screens and media feeds each day: the lies, the Trump yarn-spinning, the cover-up, the blatant disregard for Epstein’s victims.
However, what I want to draw your attention to in this blog are the horrendous similarities and parallels with the Catholic Church, and not just at the leadership level, but at the administration level and in the pews, globally and locally, wherever you may live.
We can all bravely say when a predator priest, bishop or cardinal’s egregious behaviours are exposed and brought into the public domain, “Thank goodness you’re stopping him, everyone has known he’s been doing this.”
#YouToo could be found saying what Trump said in 2006!
My point is this: is it not all too easy to ignore what continues to take place in the Catholic Church and say ‘it’s not my responsibility’ or ‘not my business’?
But if young children or vulnerable adults, including young seminarians, or victim-survivors still looking for justice are consistently being harmed, isn’t it EVERYONE’S responsibility?
And if victim survivors are still suffering all these years because they are still trying to bring the truth to light, such as Veronica Guiffre, one of Epstein’s most outspoken abuse survivors, was before taking her own life, it surely is everyone’s responsibility to play our part and do the right thing.
Here, I add a note worth bearing in mind…
Should you be of the mistaken belief that such things as clergy abuse and cover-up no longer happen in the Catholic Church these days because of stricter policies, I invite you to think again and not be so naïve.
Most of all, I implore you not to join the ranks of those who say such matters are “historic” and thus belong in the past.
Dealing with clergy abuse and cover-up is still a present-day problem.
Bishops and cardinals, and yes, even popes, are still ignoring, denying, and covering up what they knew was happening over the decades and, I have no doubt, is still happening in different corners of the world.
Tackling clergy abuse remains a present-day issue.
I know myself from the silence and disregard of the complaints I’ve consistently brought forward, specifically through official Catholic Church channels for the past eleven months (and counting), and from the fact that no church leaders are actively addressing the cover-up and ineptitude that many of us witnessed here in the local diocese of Vancouver. Not the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), not the current Metropolitan Bishop of Vancouver, not the Apostolic Nuncio in Ottawa, not the Dicastery of Bishops in Rome.
Each passes the buck, saying it’s not their area of responsibility, not within their scope to do anything.
None of them wants to address true accountability, and all put up an impenetrable wall of silence so as to wear down the resolve of those who seek truth, honesty and accountability.
Just as Trump or Andrew Mountbatten Windsor (just two from the hundreds of individuals complicit in Epstein’s crimes), our local and nationwide Catholic Church leaders are really no better.
My thanks to a blog reader who shared an article published yesterday, February 10, 2026, by Marci A. Hamilton, a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Marci Hamilton is the leading expert in the U.S. on child sex abuse statutes of limitations. She is also a vocal and influential critic of what is called extreme religious liberty.
Extreme religious liberty refers to rights granted to religious entities that allow them to operate without interference from secular laws. It includes religious groups and authorities, such as the Catholic Church, which insists on obedience and submission, not to mention enforced celibacy, thus allowing predators to continue to thrive within its ranks through the abuse of power.
In her article, Searching for One Decent Adult in the Epstein Files Marci Hamilton writes:
“The American people know that child sex trafficking is an ugly universe where the powerful willingly and disgustingly cover up deep child and young adult suffering to protect themselves. It is one of the tropes of our time. Once they learned Catholic bishops did it, why would they think no one else would?”
Why indeed?
Why not follow in the footsteps of Catholic bishops who, for decades, and into the present day, still cover up and have disregard for the suffering of children, vulnerable adults and their loved ones?
Marci Hamilton goes on to say, as it pertains to the many who were part of Epstein’s world:
“Here is my question: For the ones who did not assault the girls and young women, where was their decency? Even if they did not partake in the massages and sex assault, those in Epstein’s orbit could not help but see the young girls in bikinis by the pool, frequenting his establishments, and on his plane. They were everywhere he was—without parents.”
She then adds,” There are no heroes in these files.”
I ask the same to all religious and clergy, to include bishops, cardinals, and popes, where is your decency? Why are you not stepping up to do the right thing?
The trouble is that worse than Jeffrey Epstein, a manipulative, criminal sex offender out to seek his own salacious ends, believing himself above the law, Catholic clergy purport to be holy, celibate men; to be examples of decent Christian living and more than this, actual representatives of God, in persona Christi. They preach each Sunday about how we all need to live better, more responsible lives in accordance with Christian values, but what are they doing to hold their fellow clergy accountable?
And so, as Marci Hamilton says of all those in Epstein’s orbit, I say, especially to all clergy and monks and church leaders who do not (and who did not) partake in “massages and sexual assault” whether of little boys, girls, vulnerable adults, nuns or seminarians, many of you will have known what was happening in the institution you hold allegiance to.
And here is the clincher. I’m not talking about what happened in the past by way of abuse and cover-up in the institution you hold allegiance to, but about abuses and cover-ups still taking place in the institution that pays your salary, gives you a roof over your head and ensures you have food in your belly.
Is it good enough to stay silent?
Marci Hamilton writes of the whole Epstein business, “Anyone in this parade of masters of the universe could have stopped the abuse by being a whistleblower.”
Will you do the right thing and advocate?
Will you let your voice be heard and call for the truth?
The truth, once exposed fully, will ultimately lead to much-needed reform through the dismantling of the current church system, a system that continues to promote clericalism and misogyny. Only then can a new, healthy, and truly ‘catholic’ church survive and thrive.
Until the next time,
Bernadette