St. John’s  Telegram

25 March 2010

MATTHEW PEARSON

CanWest News Service

The Catholic Archdiocese of Ottawa defended local school boards Tuesday for not removing a letter by disgraced bishop Raymond Lahey from religious textbooks.

Lahey was arrested at the Ottawa airport in September and faces possession of child pornography charges. He has since retired as the bishop of Antigonish, N.S., and is to be tried next year.

More than a decade ago, Lahey - as bishop of St. George's, N.L. - penned an introductory letter for a series called "We Are Strong Together" used across Canada in grades 7, 8 and 9, including schools in the Ottawa and Eastern Ontario Catholic school boards.

Father Joseph Muldoon, the assistant to Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, said Lahey's letter is well written and doesn't detract from the book's goal of deepening a young Catholic's faith in God.

"It is quite an outstanding letter encouraging young people to reflect on their relationship with God," Muldoon said.

The decision to keep Lahey's letter in the textbooks comes several months after the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops - which published the books - offered dioceses across the country stickers to cover the page with Lahey's letter.

A spokeswoman explained the stickers were designed out of pastoral concern for students and families, given the nature of the charges Lahey faces.

Windsor's Catholic school board, among others, has pasted over the letter.

Muldoon said the archdiocese supports both boards in keeping the letter, but said either could decide to remove it down the road.

Lahey, he said, has not been convicted of any crime.

Muldoon said it was his understanding the Ottawa Catholic School Board has received one complaint about the letter.

School board officials offered little comment Tuesday.

"We have not removed the Bishop's introduction to the textbooks at this time. It may happen some time in the future," wrote Mardi de Kemp, a spokeswoman for the city's Catholic school board, in an e-mail.

She did not respond to a written request for what might prompt the board to apply the stickers later.

Lahey was charged by Ottawa police on Sept. 15 when he arrived at the airport on a flight from Britain. According to an Ottawa police search warrant, a forensic examination of his laptop computer allegedly revealed photographs of naked boys as young as eight.

Lahey, 69, was in charge of the archdiocese of Antigonish until last summer. He currently lives near Billings Bridge at a priests' residence and awaits his trial, which is scheduled to being in April 2011.

Disgraced bishop's note in textbooks 

The Ottawa Citizen

March 24, 2010 

By Matthew Pearson,

The Catholic Archdiocese of Ottawa defended area school boards Tuesday for not removing a letter by disgraced bishop Raymond Lahey from religious textbooks.

Lahey was arrested at the Ottawa airport in September and faces possession of child pornography charges. Since retired as the bishop of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, he is to be tried next year.

More than a decade ago, Lahey, as bishop of St. George's, Newfoundland, penned an introductory letter for a series called We Are Strong Together used across Canada in Grades 7, 8 and 9, including those at schools in the Ottawa and Eastern Ontario Catholic school boards.

Father Joseph Muldoon, the assistant to Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, said Lahey's letter was well written and didn't detract from the book's goal of deepening a young Catholic's faith in God. "It is quite an outstanding letter encouraging young people to reflect on their relationship with God," Muldoon said.

The decision to keep Lahey's letter in the textbooks comes several months after the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, which published the books, offered dioceses across the country stickers to cover the page with Lahey's letter.

A spokeswoman said the stickers were designed out of pastoral concern for students and families, given the nature of the charges Lahey faces.

Windsor's Catholic school board, among others, has pasted over the letter.

Muldoon said the archdiocese supported both Ottawa-area boards for keeping the letter, but noted either could decide to remove it down the road.

Lahey, he said, has not been convicted of any crime.

Muldoon said it was his understanding that the Ottawa Catholic School Board had received one complaint about the letter.

School board officials offered little comment Tuesday.

"We have not removed the Bishop's introduction to the textbooks at this time. It may happen some time in the future," Mardi de Kemp, a spokeswoman for the city's Catholic school board, wrote in an e-mail.

She did not respond to a written request for an indication of what might prompt the board to apply the stickers later.

Lahey was charged by Ottawa police on Sept. 15, after he arrived at the airport on a flight from Britain.

According to an Ottawa police search warrant, a forensic examination of a laptop computer allegedly revealed photographs of naked boys as young as eight.

Lahey, 69, was in charge of the archdiocese of Antigonish until last summer.

He now lives at a priests' residence near Billings Bridge and awaits his trial, which is scheduled for April 2011.

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

School Board to discuss issue next month

Ottawa Sun 

23 March 2010 

By DOUG HEMPSTEAD, OTTAWA SUN 

An Ottawa Catholic School Board trustee tried but was unable to get a letter penned by a bishop charged with possession of child pornography removed from an elementary textbook … for now. 

The letter, written by bishop Raymond Lahey, who has since retired, introduces students to Catholic teachings contained in a series of books called Believe in Me, part of the We Are Strong Together teaching collection. 

The books were published by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) in 1995 and placed in elementary schools across Canada. The letter contained in the textbooks — which has since been pasted over in books in some Ontario school boards, including Windsor’s — speaks to the importance of believing in God and in oneself.Trustee Stephen Blais met with board leadership prior to Tuesday night’s regular meeting and managed to get the issue raised in an in-camera session. 

He agrees with the CCCB bishops that the letter should be removed and called Tuesday’s meeting a lengthy, but private discussion. 

“I do plan to introduce a motion at our next meeting reinforcing my view that the abuse of children in any form is not tolerable,” said Blais. 

“Furthermore, the sexual abuse and exploitation of children is not something that can or should be tolerated by the church, our schools or society as a whole. The abuse of children by authority figures in the Catholic Church, and elsewhere, is a cancer and like any cancer, it must be cut out and exposed for the plague that it is.” 

The books are aimed at children in Grades 7-9 and were originally published in 1995 when Lahey was the bishop of St. George’s, N.L. 

Lahey was charged in September with possession of child pornography and importation of child pornography. Ottawa police said they found images of child pornography on a laptop seized from Lahey at the Ottawa International Airport Sept. 15. 

The 69-year-old was later released on bail and is currently living in the city. His trial is expected to begin in April 2011. 

The board will discuss the issue of removing Lahey’s letter again late next month.