Bishop on child-porn charges given shelter by Ottawa diocese

The Ottawa Citizen

October 7, 2009

OTTAWA — Former Antigonish bishop Raymond Lahey is staying at a Catholic priests' residence in Ottawa while he faces criminal charges of possessing and importing child pornography, according to Ottawa's Catholic archbishop.

Terrence Prendergast said in a message to Ottawa's priests that he chose to let Lahey stay in a residence on Kilborn Place because the bishop had almost nowhere else to go.

"In Christian charity, and believing that it was the action that the Lord would want us to take, I have accepted that he stay at our Priests' Residence on Kilborn Place," Prendergast wrote. "I thank the priests of our residence for their generosu spirit in receiving him in their midst."

Lahey faces charges in Ottawa since it's here that, according to police, he arrived on a plane with child pornography on his laptop. He resigned as bishop of Antigonish shortly before the charges became public.

When he was initially released on bail last week, Lahey was ordered to stay at a monastery in Rogersville, N.B., but he's expected in court Friday to ask to have that condition changed.