What will the diocese do with him?

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Two court updates:

(1)  Father Denis Vaillancourt

Father Denis Vallancourt, canon lawyer and former Chancellor of the scandal-plagued Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall, Ontario, had a court date on Wednesday 09 December 2015.  I have seen no coverage on the outocme.  I will find out on Monday and let you know.

Please keep the complainant and his family in your prayers

(2)  Father Robert Couture

On 10 December 2015, Father Robert Coiuture, a priest and substitute teacher in the Diocese of London, Ontario, was found guilty by a jury of theft over $5,000.

Several articles regarding the verdict have been posted:

11 December 2015:  Ontario priest guilty of stealing up to $234,000 from his own church

11 December 2015:  “Windsor priest guilty of stealing more than $170,000 from church” & related articles

10 December 2015:  “Former Tecumseh pastor found guilty of stealing from his church” & related articles

Note the following in the top article by Trevor Wilhelm in the national Post:

Spokeswoman Emma Moynihan said the Catholic Diocese of London won’t move to have the former pastor of Tecumseh’s Ste. Anne Parish defrocked, but they also don’t plan to put him back in a church.

“He will still have the title of priest but he won’t have any of his faculties,” she said, adding the diocese only tries to defrock priests in sexual abuse cases. “It’s very difficult to get the title of priest removed. It’s a decision that the Pope has to make. So as of right now it is unlikely that title will be removed.”

What, pray tell, do they plan to do with him?  Father Joe leClair (guilty plea to fraud and theft) has been recycled out of the Archdiocese of Ottawa, and on to the Archdiocese of Moncton, New Brunswick for a spell, and from there has landed in the Diocese of Hamilton Ontario where he is assisting at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Guelph.

Will the diocese recycle Father Crouteau?  Is that it?

Or, since he is also a teacher, will Father Crotueay find a niche  teaching children in the French Catholic schools of the archdiocese?  I wonder indeed if he will have his teacher’s license revoked?  It should be, should it not?

If not teaching or pastoring or recycled, what will the Diocese of London do with Father Crouteau?  Will he be shipped off to study Canon Law?

But, first, before he goes anywhere, he should – hopefully – spend time behind bars for his crimes, and while there, spend time on his knees praying for the many Catholics  he betrayed.

*****

And more on the ongoing saga and fallout from former Supreme Court Justice Michel Bastarache’s ‘conciliation’ deals for, first,  the Diocese of Bathurst, New Brunswick and on the heels of that, for the Archdiocese of Moncton, New Brunswick:

11 December 2015:  Diocese of Moncton suing Co-Operators Insurance for $4.2M

In both cases the respective dioceses are suing their insuring agents.  Interesting that Judge Stephen McNally is the presiding judge in both cases.

I wonder when we can anticipate a ruling on the Bathusrt Diocese trial?  IF the judge in that case orders the insuring agent to pay up, then presumably he will do likewise with agent for the Archdiocese of Moncton.  But, what if Justice McNally rules in favour of Aviva in the Bathurst case?  Will the case in Moncton then go to trial?

It all seems just a bit strange.  Anyway, in due course we shall know.  However, IF the judge rules that Aviva must pay, that means that there will be no trial in Moncton, and therefore no public testimony, right? and therefore no new details about the number of priests in the Archdiocese identified as molesters?  It will all remain as hush hush as it has been from the get-go?

We shall see…

Enough for now,

Sylvia

 

 

 

 

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