I’m home – had a wonderful, albeit very green, Christmas with family in the States. Lots of little ones around – many many little blessings 🙂
You were all close to my mind and heart at Midnight Mass. I pray that you each had at least one small blessing on Christmas Day, or, as with Leona “a true Christmas miracle.” The Christmas season is still upon us – there is still time.
I have posted one article of interest:
28 December 2011: Priest accused of 55 child sex crimes in Ireland is deported from Brazil after eight years on the run
Hats off here to the Brazilian police who managed to get this fugitive priest deported and headed for Ireland to face his many accusers, and did so in such a way that he had no idea they were on to him.
Why, I wonder was this priest not defrocked years ago? He was actually working as a taxi-driver?!!! Why oh why was he not defrocked?
No matter, he’s now back in Ireland where he will have to face his accusers and, where, finally and belatedly, by the grace of God, justice will be done.
This is all shades of our formerly fugitive Oblate molester Eric Dejager is it not?
*****
And now, believe it or not, it’s time to get our Christmas tree decorated!!!
Enough for now,
Sylvia
I am glad that the Brazilians lined up their ducks and got this fellow back to the scene of his exploitative criminal past and as in the case of Dejeager the survivors will finally have a chance to see some justice done. A second similarity is that pay outs where negotiated or imposed by civil action against the church. What is concerning however is that in Dejeager’s case we have an active order.. the Oblate s protecting and harbouring this man in their midst and having him act with impudence at his previous roles as a priest. There is an element of criminal behaviour in those actions by the Oblates, specifically his residency in the Oblate house in Belgium and the correspondence as a warning from Canada indicating he would be arrested if he was to return to this country. As well, our legal system saying it would not pursue him further. They clearly understood he was a wanted man and that he had been previously convicted, he had hurt several more children than he stood accused of in Iglulik as well as in Repulse Bay and they actively kept that as silent as possible to protect themselves and their brother. In addition some responsibility must be borne by the Canadian social fabric such as members of the justice system for allowing this man the leeway he had to escape justice. We still have 19 years of unrestricted access to children while he was in Belgium and France and I suspect despite my not being a psychiatrist that he is an obsessive pedophile based on the 30 + charges he is now facing. I also feel that many more of these criminal incidences have occurred during the period he was hiding. The Oblates and the system here in Canada have some responsibility for those individuals hurt by his passing and the activities taken to hide and silence the afflicted. One might say that he never re-offended once he escaped Canada however I see at least 30-40 spots on this leopard and I suspect that his coat is spotted throughout. On a positive note however as these men are brought to justice survivors will see that they might have representation by their societies’ and protection from this institution and may come forward.