I still say you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear and this so-called inquiry will never be anything but a sow’s ear and will never bring anything nigh to “healing” to Cornwall. To the contrary I am firmly convinced that in the long run it will do far more harm than good.
That said, hats off to Dallas Lee, the spunky young lawyer from the London-based law firm Ledroit Beckett representing the victims at the Cornwall inquiry.
The issue on the plate at the Weave Shed today (27 March ’06) was David S. Scott’s motion on behalf of his client, the diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall, that the diocese is not a public institution and is therefore beyond the scope of the mandate.
That I believe is exactly the way it’s meant to be – after all, the words didn’t fall into the mandate out of thin air: they were chosen with great care.
But it’s nice to see that Justice Glaude will have to sweat it out a little and do some fancy footwork when – or if? – he lets the diocese off the hook.
To that end Dallas Lee did a superb job of showing why the diocese has to be within the mandate’s line of fire. Using the affidavit and research of Ledroit Beckett lawyer Rob Talach Lee essentially noted that the diocese has been at the heart of the scandal which prompted calls for the inquiry. He went back to the D.S. allegations against Father Charles MacDonald and probation officer Ken Seguin; pointed out that Seguin attended seminary with Father MacDonald and the pair were sexual partners; addressed the involvement of Bishop Eugene Larocque and the diocese in the $32,000 hush deal; took note of Jacques Leduc’s involvement in the deal; referenced the role played by Malcolm MacDonald; and bluntly said they were all involved in a cover-up.
Well, at the mention of cover-up an aghast Justice Glaude nearly fell off his bench:
A challenge: “Wait. Wait. Did you say cover-up?”
A brief exchange. Lee defended his logic and assertion. Glaude wavered, and almost mused that well, if that’s what Lee meant …. And Lee stuck to his guns and said that’s what it was.
Then David S. Scott (legal counsel for he diocese) was leaping to his feet protesting that nowhere is there any documentation to say the diocese and Bishop Larocque were involved in drafting the gag order. And an unfazed Lee responded that if it meant keeping Scott from jumping to his feet he would say that the allegations were at least handled incompetently, and that Bishop Larocque’s claim that he hadn’t read the signed illegal agreement was proof of incompetence.
Lee also told Glaude that, contrary to Scott’s claim, the diocese does indeed have a duty and a process in place to respond to allegations of sexual abuse. He quoted canon law, and then he turned to the 1962 Vatican instruction The Secret of the Holy Office in which the Church addressed the solicitation of penitents (clearly dealing with sexual overtures and acts) and how to deal with such allegations. He informed the inquiry that in the instruction, “homosexuality” is identified under the heading “The Worst Crime,” and under that section the issue of paedophilia is specifically addressed. There is mention of sanctions for these acts, including possible excommunication.
Lee also told the commissioner that one victim identified only as GR reported allegations of clerical sexual abuse to the bishop and was told by the bishop that he, the bishop, could do nothing to assist him. And Lee noted that there are known sexual abuse allegations against 23 diocesan priest (that is high given that Alexandria -Cornwall is a small diocese with approximately fifty priests. During the Classical College years however approximately 25 Viatorian priests who staffed the College were added to the roster of diocesan clergy).
And Lee noted that there is no information to indicate whether the diocese ever did or did not report allegations to the Children’s Aid Society, and suggested that would be something which could be investigated by the inquiry.
It was quite a presentation. Lee didn’t waste time quibbling over legal precedent and definitions. And he didn’t play buddy buddy to this one and that one and the other one. He fearlessly and passionately used common sense arguments which went to the very heart of the sheer foolishness of calling an inquiry to get to the truth while simultaneously giving a bye to the diocese which is at the core of the allegations and which definitively worked to cover-up the allegations against Father MacDonald.
My goodness but truth has a wonderful ability of cutting to the quick.
I for one am inclined to think that no matter what David S. Scott has to say tomorrow (today 28th), Dallas Lee has placed Justice Glaude firmly between the devil and the deep blue sea.
And that’s it for now.
I will post and link to the 1962 Vatican document later. And I’ll be back with a few words on Father Francis Morrissey.
Sylvia