Tomorrow, Friday 16 July 2010, is sentencing day for ex priest-convicted-child-molester Don Grecco. I won’t hold my breath anticipating a sentence which fits the crime, but, we shall see. Hope springs eternal 🙂
Keep the victims in your prayers.
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Some absolutely intriguing comments in today’s Ottawa Citizen from Father Len Lunney, former Principal of Ottawa’s St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary and High School. 15 July 2010: School never made aware of misconduct
Lunney was apparently explaining why, in 1975 Allen, a teacher at St. Pius X from 1959, was popped out of the school and over to Resurrection of Our Lord – for one year.
Msgr. Len Lunney said by phone Tuesday that when Allen left the school to assume duties at the Resurrection of Our Lord parish in 1975, Allen’s “involvement at the school was very limited.”
During Lunney’s early tenure, Allen had been making the “natural evolution” from teaching to increased parish work, Lunney said.
Meaning what? He was ordained as a diocesan priest. He served one year at a parish in Hull, Quebec. He was sent off to get his teaching quals. From 1965 he and his fellow priests at Pius X were responsible for the priestly duties at St. Monica’s Church. And in 1975 he was he was dispatched to Resurrection? for ONE year? all part of making the “natural evolution from teaching to parish work?
Really?!
And by 1980 for certain if not before he was back teaching at Pius X?
Why the decision to end Allen’s path of “natural evolution”?
And there’s more:
Lunney wouldn’t say whether Allen’s departure from the school was his own choice.
“As I say, it was a natural evolution. As the school got established, the role of the priests was to do parish work, not education,” Lunney said.
“I think the key word is ‘natural.’ It’s just nature itself,” the monsignor said. “You are ordained for pastoral work at the parish level in the pastoral situation. Schools are kind of an addenda to that, I suppose.”
Meaning what? What is Monsignor trying to say?
If Allen was naturally “evolving” into a parish priest, why not just say that Archbishop Plourde assigned him to Resurrection? that would constitute a routine stage of the evolutionary process, would it not?
If that wasn’t the case, then there are two alternatives, either (a) Allen asked to be assigned to Resurrection so that his evolution could be expedited, and Lunney agreed to let him go, or (b) a decision was made to get Allen out of Pius X, at least for a little spell.
Are there other options? Help me with this. I am stuck.
As for being ordained for pastoral work, well, really! Is pastoral not simply the care of souls? The boys had souls. The parishioners at St. Monica’s had souls.
It makes no sense.
Finally, if indeed Father Allen was relocated to Resurrection because “the role of the priests was to do pastoral work, not education, why did Allen return to education? Had he ‘evolved’?
And this circling of the wagons from the former Principal of a Catholic prep seminary/high school!
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The new norms are out. I looked over them briefly earlier – will re-read and post them later. Meanwhile I have posted two related articles:
15 July 2010: Vatican issues new sex abuse norms after crisis
15 July 2010: Vatican ’speeds up’ abuse cases
I did note the obvious: The statute of limitations has been raised to 20 years after the victims 18th birthday. Apparently there will still be allowance to argue an extension on a case by case basis. As I have said before, there should be no canonical statute of limitations for clerical sexual abuse. Why did they not just bite the bullet and do the right thing?
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I have a text version of The Story of Bernard Prince. I will post it later tonight or sometime tomorrow – easier to read than a pdf file :).
Enough for now,
Sylvia
(contact me at cornwall@theinquiry.ca)