MacKenzie: Father Robert MacKenzie

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Robert MacKenzie

Father Robert MacKenzie Retired (Regina Archdiocese website, 21 March ’17)

Father Robert MacKenzie

Father Bob

Ian Robert MacKenzie

Scottish-born priest.  Ordained  in Edinburgh, Scotland 15 July 1956.  Originally was a Benedictine priest in Scotland – taught at Carlekemp and Fort Augustus Abbey School  in Scotland before moving to Canada in 1988. (Both Carlekemp and  Fort Augustus Abbey School were operated by the Benedictines,  Carlekemp  was the the preparatory school for Fort Augustus Abbey School )

Became a Canadian citizen

In  April 2019 it was  been reported that there are 16 allegations of physical and sexual abuse from 16 complainants .  The allegations relate to Father MacKenzie’s years in Scotland

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04 December 2019:  Court reserves decision in Father MacKenzie extradition review

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Appeal/judicial review of Minister of Justice’s decision re extradition

Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has reserved its decision re extradition of Father Mackenzie to Scotland.  The application for judicial review was heard 04 December 2019.

Saskatchewan Court of Appeal:  04 December 2019:  10 am, Appeal,  Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan ( 2425 Victoria Avenue, Regina, Saskatchewan) ;  24 July 2019, 10 am, “chamber hearing,” Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan ( 2425 Victoria Avenue, Regina, Saskatchewan)

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04 December 2019:  10 am, Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan  (Appeal of extradition)

 

 

 

14 April 2019:  According to Scotland’s The Sunday Post, there are 16 allegations of physical and sexual abuse made by 16 people

09 April 2019:  news via media that Alan McIntyre, Father MacKenzie’s lawyer, plans to ask for a judicial review of the Minister of Justice’s decision re extradition (basically seeking an appeal)

08 April 2019:  In letter to “Priests, Parishes, Lay members of the Archdiocese” Archbishop Bolen advises that Father Robert MacKenzie has been charged by Scottish authorities and extradition  has been authorized ( 08 April 2109 letter )

March 2017:  extradition proceedings under way to have Father MacKenzie returned to Scotland to face charges in relations to  historic sex abuse allegations which appear to be related to his time teaching at Fort Augustus Abbey School.

04 April 2017:   A clarification from Father Lorne Crozon, Vicar General for the Archdiocese of Regina: “I would … like to clarify a previous statement regarding abuse and Father MacKenize.  That,  the Archdiocese of Regina never received any allegations of abuse from members of the Archdiocese of Regina regarding Father Mackenzie. ”

28 March 2017:  According to Father Lorne Crozon, Vicar General for the Archdiocese of Regina, the archdiocese has never received any allegations of abuse against Father MacKenzie.  Father Crozon also noted that: “Father MacKenzie is in a place where he can be supervised and cared for as we await further developments from Scotland. ”

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Extradition in Canada: General Overview of the Canadian Extradition Process

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08 April 2019:  Archbishop Bolen letter re Father Robert MacKenzie

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16 April 2019:  Australian government says abuse claim monk should face trial in Scotland

14 April 2019:  Revealed: 16 alleged victims of Scots priest, 86, facing extradition

09 April 2019:  Updated articles  “Sask. priest to be extradited to Scotland to face sexual and physical assault charges” & related article

09 April 2019:  “Sask. priest to be extradited to Scotland to face sexual and physical assault charges” & related articles

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04 May 2017:   Special meeting at St. Patrick’s Church basement with Archbishop Don Bolen presiding “The topic of this meeting will be Father Bob MacKenzie as well as any other topics that may be brought forward. ( Cupar’s Parish Gazette 29 April 2017)

04 April 2017:  Scottish police trying to extradite Saskatchewan priest over abuse claims: report

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Fort Augustus Abbey School

(scroll down for text of other media coverage)

 Sins of Our Fathers – BBC Scotland

[Click in the box in lower right-hand corner of screen to enlarge]

07 November 2019:  Monk accused of Scottish child abuse loses extradition appeal” & relates article

19 February 2014:   “Second man charged over Fort Augustus Abbey school abuse claims” & related articles from 2013 and 2014 giving background on Fort Augustus Abbey School scandal

01 August 2013:  Revealed: Sexual predator Jimmy Savile was regular visitor to Catholic school at centre of abuse scandal

April 1985:  Fort Augustus Abbey School ad in newspaper ( Father Robert MacKenzie would still have been on staff at this time)

1960s:  Prospectus – school publication from Fort Augustus Abbey School from soemtime in the 1960s

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Archbishops of Archdiocese of Regina from time Father MacKenzie arrived:  Charles Aimé Halpin  (24 September 1973  – 16 April 1994 Died);  Peter Joseph Mallon  (09 June 1995 – 30 March 2005 ); Daniel Joseph Bohan  (30 March 2005  – 15 January 2016 ; Donald Joseph Bolen (11 July 2016  – )

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Media Coverage & BLOGS

11 April 2018:  BLOG Sweet deal for “Mr. Wonder”

29 April 2017:  BLOG  Odds and ends

24 April 2017:  BLOG  A little information of interest

05 April 2017:  BLOG Disappointing beyond measure

04 April 2017:  Scottish police trying to extradite Saskatchewan priest over abuse claims: report

31 May 2017:  BLOG  “Reasonable doubt” about age

29 March 2017:  BLOG Cupar Trivia

28 March 2017:  BLOG Beyond that, more news…

27 March 2017:  BLOG A hard blow

25 March 2017:  BLOG Fort Augustus Abbey School ( Sins of Our Fathers – BBC Scotland )

21 March 2017:  BLOG  Extradition proceedings commenced

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10 June 2012:   Father Bob MacKenzie 80th birthday celebrated (his birthday is actually 23 June 1932)

2010Father  Bob MacKenzie at St. Patrick’s Parish in Cupar Sask ( Faith Alive Regina 1910 2010 (in Faith Alive, Archdiocese of Regina, 1910-2010)  (There is a discrepancy in dates here, I think perhaps a typo?  This puts Father Mackenzie’s arrival in Cupar  at 1985.  Father Mackenzie actually arrived in Regina in 1988 and was assigned to Cupar August 1990 )

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Available Timelines

Unless otherwise indicated, the following information is drawn from Canadian Catholic Church Directories (CCCD) of the dates indicted, media (M),  personal contacts (P), and the Regina Archdiocese  (R) and Bishop Bolen 08 April 2109 letter (Bolen)

[According to information received from the Regina Archdiocesan, Father MacKenzie  served at Blessed Sacrament Regina for eight months, Holy Trinity Regina for three months, St. Cecilia’s Regina for one month.  He went to Marquis and Central Butte where he served for a year along with being the chaplain to Vanier College in Moose Jaw. He was assigned to Cupar August of 1990. ]

09 April 2019:  news via media that Canadian government approved the extradition of Father Robert MacKenzie, and that Alan McIntyre, Father MacKenzie’s lawyer, plans to ask for a judicial review of the Minister of Justice’s decision  (basically seeking an appeal)  The publication ban must have been lifted.  When it was lifted is unknown.

08 April 2019:  In letter to “Priests, Parishes, Lay members of the Archdiocese” Archbishop Bolen advises that Father Robert MacKenzie has been charged by Scottish authorities and extradition  has been authorized. The charges relate to  physical and sexual abuse “alleged to have occurred at day and boarding schools in Scotland whose students were primarily children.”  ( 08 April 2109 letter )

22 March 2019:  according to media reports, Scottish authorities attained surrender order from Canada’s Minister of Justice  (M)

2018 (Month and date unknown):  According to Archbishop Bolen: “as more revelations regarding to outstanding criminal allegations were brought to our attention” Father MacKenzie’s faculties to minister as a priest were suspended.  (Bolen)

28 August 2018:  Attorney General of Canada filed an application of some sort in Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench (P)

07 June 2018:  Application for publication ban (this was application for ban on publication of Father Robert MacKenzie’s name.  There was already a ban on the identities  of the complainant and other evidence) (P)

04 May 2018:  Extradition hearing, Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench (P)

08 March 2018:  first court date on Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench roster related to MacKenzie  extradition (P)

04 May 2017:   Special meeting at St. Patrick’s Church basement with Archbishop Don Bolen presiding “The topic of this meeting will be Father Bob MacKenzie as well as any other topics that may be brought forward.  ( Cupar’s Parish Gazette 29 April 2017)

04 April 2017:  Father MacKenzie  is gone from Cupar.  He has been  moved to a retirement home in Regina (M – 04 April 2017)

According to Archbishop Bolen’s April 2019 letter, “Two years ago we were informed that criminal proceedings were underway in Scotland against Fr. MacKenzie.”   According to the archbishop, Father MacKenzie was then moved from the Cupar rectory “to a retirement home where his movement and activities were further restricted.”  (Bolen)

March 2017:   – according to 09 April 2019  Global News report:   “The archdiocese was informed that MacKenzie had been arrested, charged and quickly released in March 2017.”  There seems to be no  other record of this court date?

01 August 1990March 2017:  Living in Cupar Saskatchewan, initially as pastor a St. Patrick’s with mission churches in Dysart and Lioton, then semi-retired, and finally, it seems, retired completely in 2011, but continued to live in St. Patrick’s rectory.

March 2017:  Retired and living in  St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church rectory in Cupar, Sask..

– News of allegations and potential extradition to Scotland first become public.  Father MacKenzie tells reporter with Scotland’s Sunday Post that ” it’s all been dealt with. There’s absolutely no truth in the allegations.”  He also said that it was “absolute rubbish” that there was a move to extradite him.

 – According to Archbishop Bolen, in 2017 (month unknown ), after   “we were informed that criminal proceedings were underway in Scotland against Fr. MacKenzie”  the priest was moved to a retirement home “where his movement and activities were further restricted.”

2017:   Retired and living in  St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church rectory in Cupar, Sask.  Address gives P.O. Box in Cupar which is same as that of St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Cupar, Saskatchewan.   St. Patrick’s in Cupar is now ‘merged’ or clustered with and a mission church of St. James Roman Catholic Church in Southey, Saskatchewan, with Father Francis (Prince) Kurisinkal as Administrator  at Southey.   (CCCD

2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011:  Retired and living in  St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church rectory in Cupar, Sask.

Address gives P.O. Box in Cupar which is same as that of St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Cupar,  Saskatchewan.   St Patrick’s in Cupar is now ‘merged’ or clustered with a mission church of St. James Roman Catholic Church in Southey, Saskatchewan, with Monsignor Reymundo Asis as Pastor  or Administrator at Southey.   (CCCD)

10 July 2016:  celebration in Cupar, Saskatchewan of Father MacKenzie’s 60th anniversary of ordination (  Father Robert MacKenzie 60th anniv. or ordination)

2015 Suspension lifted by the archdiocese on one condition:  Father MacKenzie was asked not to be alone around children (M)

2013:  Archdiocese learned of sex abuse allegations against Father MacKenzie.  MacKenzie was suspended.  There is no indication as yet that  Catholics in Cupar or other areas in which Father MacKenzie served were told about the allegations (M)

2010:  Retired/semi-retired  and living in  St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church rectory in Cupar, Sask. (Faith Alive)

Address gives P.O. Box in Cupar which is same as that of St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Cupar,  Saskatchewan.   St Patrick’s in Cupar is now ‘merged’ or clustered with and a mission church of St. James Roman Catholic Church in Southey, Saskatchewan, with Father Eusebio Tubale Jr as Pastor  at Southey.  (CCCD)

2002: Semi-retired.  According to diocesan paper The Arch (see picture above) retired in 2002 when he turned 70-years-of-age, but continued to say Mass twice a week in Cupar and Dysart , and then “retired completely” in 2011.

According to Faith Alive (2010):

In 2002, when St.Patrick’s became an Associate parish of the Southey/ Strasbourg Pastoral Region, Fr . Gary Lindenbach became our pastor. Fr. Mackenzie, semi-retired, remained in our parish and continued to say Sunday masses, preside at funerals and do works of mercy in  the community.

CCCD index shows him at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Cupar, Saskatchewan.  St Patrick’s in Cupar is now ‘merged’ or clustered with a a mission church of St. James Roman Catholic Church in Southey, Saskatchewan, with Father G. Lindenbach as Pastor at Southey.  St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Cupar,  Saint John the Baptist  RC Church in Dysart and Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Lipton, Saskatchewan are all now missions of St. James in Southey. (CCCD)

2000, 1998, 1997, 1995, 1993:  Pastor, St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Cupar, Saskatchewan, with missions at Saint John the Baptist  RC Church in Dysart and Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Lipton, Saskatchewan (CCCD and 2000 website)

31 March 1993:  incardinated in the Archdiocese of Regina (R)

01 August 1990: assigned to St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Cupar, Saskatchewan, with missions at Saint John the Baptist  RC Church in Dysart and Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Lipton. (R)

1991:   address in CCCD that of St. John Roman Catholic Church in Marquis, Saskatchewan and Saint Mary Roman Catholic Church in Central Butte, Saskatchewan (Pastor Father W. Mahoney) (CCCD)

1989 – 1990:  The info above must reference pre-August 1990 at which time  he was assigned to Cupar.  (CCCD information is sometimes  a year out, depending on what information is received before the publication goes to print.)

  According to information received from the Regina Archdiocese Father MacKenzie spent one year in Marquis and Central Butte – during that year he also served as Chaplain at Vanier College in Moose Jaw.

–  listed in index with initials OSB behind his name, meaning member of Benedictine order of priests

01 August 1989 – July 1990: St. John’s Roman Catholic Church, Marquis, Saskatchewan (R) – this would include  serving Central Butte and the year he spent  as chaplain to Vanier College in Moose Jaw (R)

01 May 1989 -July 1989:  Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church, Regina (R)

01 September 1988 – April 1989:  Blessed Sacrament Sacrament Roman Catholic Church, Regina (R)

July 1988:  arrived in Regina, Saskatchewan (R)

1969:  Junior house Master at Fort Augustus Abbey school in Scotland? ( Robert MacKenzie  Junior House Master )  (Full page MacKenzie Junior Housemaster )  Fort August Abbey school , now closed, was situated at the South end of Loch Ness,  midway between Inverness and Fort William.

(The picture of the Abbey below is copied  from a 1990s Abbey brochure related to the sale of the Abbey – found on corbie.com, a website operated by the Fort Augustus Abbey School Old Boy’s Association. Click to enlarge.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

1958:  on staff at Carlekemp (P)

This is a scan of a prayer card which was  was tucked inside a missal given by Father MacKenzie to a student at Carlkemp in 1958.

1957:  thought to have been assigned to and taught French at Carlekemp, the preparatory school for Fort Augustus Abbey School which took children from ages 5-6 to 11-12 at which time they moved on to Fort Augustus .   At Carlekemp at the same time were three monks now identified in Scotland as “predatory paedophiles”:   two Australian brothers, Fathers Aidan and Fabian Duggan, and Father John McBride (p)

15 July 1956:  ORDAINED at Fort Augustus Abbey

(Berwickshire News and General Advertiser Northumberland, England, Tuesday 17 July 1956)

Ordination at Fort Augustus 

At an ordination ceremony held in the Abbey Church. Fort Augustus, on Sunday, Father Robert McKenzie, Edinburgh, an old boy of the Abbey School, was raised to the priesthood by Bishop Francis Walsh, of Aberdeen.  Dom Benedict Seed, of Duns, and Dom Vincent

Berwickshire News and General Advertiser Northumberland, England

Attained degrees in Sacred Theology (San’ Anselmo, Rome ) and in Scripture (Pontifical Biblical Institute)

was a pupil at Fort Augustus Abbey School

23 June 1932:  DOB

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Bid to extradite priest from Canada over Fort Augustus abuse claims

BBC

21 March 2017

Image caption Fr Robert MacKenzie moved to Canada after teaching at the Fort Augustus Abbey School in Inverness-shire

Moves are under way to extradite a retired priest from Canada to Scotland in connection with child abuse claims.

The Crown Office has been granted a petition warrant for the arrest of Father Robert MacKenzie, who lives in Cupar, Saskatchewan.

Fr MacKenzie, 84, taught at the former Fort Augustus Abbey School before moving to Canada in 1988.

Papers are now being prepared in the Crown Office to submit an extradition request to the Canadian authorities.

A Crown Office statement said: “The procurator fiscal received a report concerning a now 84-year-old male in connection with alleged historical offences.

“No court dates have been scheduled at this time.”

Court process

The petition warrant is the first stage in the process in which prosecutors are now preparing an extradition request.

This can take several weeks, and once received by the Canadian authorities the court process there could last more than a year.

Image caption Fort Augustus Abbey school closed down in the 1990s

The move at the Crown Office came after the launch of a police inquiry in 2013, following a BBC Scotland investigation of alleged systematic physical and sexual abuse at Fort Augustus.

A number of former pupils made detailed allegations to the BBC.

Father MacKenzie was the priest at St Patrick’s, Cupar, in the Canadian diocese of Regina, Saskatchewan.

On remand

Although he retired in 2014, he still lives in the town.

Extradition proceedings are under way in the case of another former Fort Augustus priest, Fr Denis Alexander, who lives in Australia.

He is currently on remand while the extradition process continues, although his lawyers are attempting to have him freed because of what they say is his failing health.

Another former priest, Fr Benedict Seed is due to stand trial at Inverness Sheriff Court in May, charged with eight counts of physical abuse at Fort Augustus.

The Crown Office has still to decide what action to take in a furtherr six cases.

The Fort Augustus School, which was run by the Benedictine Order of monks, closed in 1993.

Allegations of sexual abuse there will be examined by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in England and Wales (IICSA).

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Click to enlarge

 

 

 

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Priest ‘could be extradited over child abuse claims’

Father Robert MacKenzie, 84, taught at Fort Augustus and is now living in Canada.

Fort Augustus Abbey: Father MacKenzie taught at school (file pic).

Fort Augustus Abbey: Father MacKenzie taught at school (file pic). Charles Hailbronner/Flickr/Creative Commons/Cropped

A retired priest could be extradited from Canada to Scotland to face child abuse allegations.

Father Robert MacKenzie has been reported to the Crown Office in relation to historic incidents.

The 84-year-old taught at Fort Augustus Abbey School in Inverness-shire but is now living in Canada.

The Crown Office has been granted a petition warrant for the arrest of Father MacKenzie.

It is the first step in the legal process which could lead to an extradition warrant being granted to bring him to Scotland to face the allegations.

A spokesman said: “The procurator fiscal received a report concerning a now 84-year-old male, in connection with alleged historic offences.

“No court dates have been scheduled at this time.”

Fort Augustus Abbey, a Catholic boarding school, has been at the centre of several claims of child abuse spanning three decades from the 1950s.

The institution, which was run by the Benedictine Order of monks and is no longer open, is among those being looked into under the Scottish child abuse inquiry headed up by chairwoman Lady Smith.

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Bid to extradite ANOTHER Scots priest accused of abuse

The Sunday Post

A RETIRED priest is set to be extradited from Canada to Scotland following a child sex abuse probe, The Sunday Post can reveal.

Father Robert MacKenzie, 84, was a teacher at Fort Augustus Abbey in the Highlands before moving to Canada in 1988.

In 2013, a police investigation was sparked after allegations emerged of physical and sexual abuse at the school where Father MacKenzie taught.

The offences were claimed to have taken place at the school over a period of 25 years between 1967 and 1992.

A number of former pupils at the school have made detailed allegations of abuse there.

They include claims by five men who said they were raped or sexually abused by Father Aidan Duggan, an Australian monk who died in 2004.

The Sunday Post has spoken to one of the complainers who has formally named Father MacKenzie as an alleged abuser.

This is the first time he has been named in the long-running investigation into the school.
The accuser said: “This has been a long drawn-out process to get to this stage. It’s been a living hell. The strain I’ve been under has been incredible.”

The Crown Office went to court earlier this month to apply for a petition warrant for Father MacKenzie’s arrest – the first step in a legal process that could see an extradition warrant applied for to bring him to Scotland to face charges.

Father MacKenzie denies any wrongdoing and refutes the allegations against him.

At his Canadian home last week, he insisted there was “absolutely no truth in the allegations”.

He said he had been cleared of any wrongdoing “long ago” and it had “all been dealt with”.

He said: “The police in Scotland have dealt with it and there is nothing to those accusations.”

Father MacKenzie – known locally as Father Bob – is well-known in the tight-knit town of Cupar in the rural state of Saskatchewan, which borders the US in west central Canada.

An hour’s drive from the state capital Regina, Cupar has a population of just over 500. Father MacKenzie was the town’s priest until retiring two years ago, sources say, and still lives in the rectory of St Patrick’s Church in Cupar.

It is believed Father MacKenzie, originally from Edinburgh and educated in Rome, went to school at Fort Augustus before returning to it as a teacher and house master.

Last night, a Crown Office spokesman confirmed a petition warrant had been sought and granted against Father MacKenzie.

He said: “The procurator fiscal received a report concerning a now 84-year-old male in connection with alleged historical offences. No court dates have been scheduled at this time.”

Bringing Father MacKenzie to a Scottish court could take years.

One of his former colleagues at Fort Augustus has been fighting a similar extradition move for more than a year from his Australian home.

The Crown Office began the legal process to get Father Denis Alexander to appear before a Scottish court in 2015.

But a year later he told reporters he was unaware of any extradition plans, fuelling fears the process was stalling.

In January, he was arrested by Australian police at his home and has been held in prison while the extradition hearing continues.

He is expected to appear in court in May.

His lawyers have already said he will fight the move and that he should be freed from remand due to his failing health.

Run by Benedictine monks, Fort Augustus Abbey school closed in 1993.

13 Responses to MacKenzie: Father Robert MacKenzie

  1. Mike Fitzgerald says:

    And no one knew anything! See no evil, hear no evil, do no evil…………… Sounds familiar. Mike.

  2. josee lalonde says:

    It’s a big shame! Why, Why, Why? he’s been accused of sexual abuse and instead of going straight to jail, he is been deported to Nove Scotia???? What a beautiful reward, finishing his days relaxing with his own! What about the victims…. when are they going to have a real break? No wonder, no more people are going to church!

  3. Sylvia says:

    He’s going back to Scotland josee. The complainants are in Scotland

  4. Sylvia says:

    Father Robert MacKenzie is battling extradition to Scotland to face his accusers. He has a court-date with the Court of Appeal in July:

    24 July 2019: 10 am, “chamber hearing,” Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan ( 2425 Victoria Avenue, Regina, Saskatchewan)

    This is not the actual hearing itself, but a step leading up to the hearing.

    Please keep the complainants in Scotland in your prayers as Father MacKenzie battles on to avoid facing the charges.

  5. NatLog says:

    Meanwhile in Australia we have a parallel case for extradition to Scotland;

    Rev. Denis ‘Chrysostom’ Alexander a former Benedictine monk of Fort Augustus Abbey (now suppressed) is in the process of being extradited to Scotland on charges relating to the sexual abuse of children at the Abbey schools”

    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-47949648

    The former monk’s last legal recourse to prevent this is to seek a judicial review of the decision.

    This is now in the hands of the Federal Court of Australia, and the decision could take more months.

    The usual ‘ medical grounds’ are being offered as excuse to deny extradition

  6. Sylvia says:

    Yes, Father MacKenzie is also a former Benedictine who once hailed from Fort Augustus Abbey. He too sought a judicial review. I am sure he will argue ill health infirmity.

  7. Sylvia says:

    Father MacKenzie’s battle to avoid extradition to Scotland continues – his case will be heard by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal in December; the exact date should be set within the next two weeks. As soon as I have the date I will let you know.

    Please keep the complainants in Scotland in your prayers.

  8. NatLog says:

    An update on Fort Augustus Benedictine monk Rev. Denis Alexander.

    As readers may recall he has been fighting a Scotland Police extradition warrant concerning allegations about him sexually abusing children at the school administered by Fort Augustus Abbey.

    A judge in Sydney Australia has dismissed his attempt to avoid extradition to Scotland. Link supplied

    https://www.abc.net.au/radio/hobart/programs/am/father-denis-alexander-faces-uk-extradition-child-sexual-abuse/11684770

    I will post more as this story develops

  9. NatLog says:

    BBC Scotland offers a fuller version of Rev. Denis Alexander losing his extradition appeal;

    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-50328634

    Alexander now has 28 days to appeal the Federal Court decision

  10. Sylvia says:

    Both articles are posted: 07 November 2019: Monk accused of Scottish child abuse loses extradition appeal” & relates article

    I wonder will he appeal? I suppose it all boils down to does he have or have access to that kind of money?

    Meanwhile back here in Canada former Benedictine Father Robert MacKenzie – and former teacher and student at the Abbey – is also appealing his extradition to Scotland. The appeal date is set for 04 December 2019 at 10 am , Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan ( 2425 Victoria Avenue, Regina, Saskatchewan)

    Please keep the men who filed complaints against these priests in your prayers.

  11. NatLog says:

    Robert MacKenzie and Denis Alexander have for years lived with the fear that the past would come calling in the form of police officers. To think they thought they could simply ‘walk or more correctly speaking fly away” from the catastrophes it has been alleged they delivered into the lives of people is facile and demonstrates a moral turpitude of significant proportions.

    It is anyones guess as to whether Alexander has the resources to pursue an appeal or if leave to appeal will be granted. It would appear he will be in custody until early 2020 before a final decision on his extradition is made.

    The Roman Catholic Church in Scotland has faced a barrage of intense criticism following a public inquiry into its conduct. The returning of MacKenzie and Alexander will not only exacerbate a church in crisis but reveal further issues of massive concern

  12. NatLog says:

    A BBC news report states that Father Denis Alexander, formerly a Benedictine monk of the now dissolved Fort Augustus Abbey, Scotland has opted not to appeal his extradition.
    The 28 day period in which to lodge an appeal against his extradition to Scotland has now expired with no appeal against extradition lodged.

    One must now “assume” that his extradition to Scotland will be in a matter of weeks.

    BBC Scotland report on this matter is supplied

    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-50700335

  13. NatLog says:

    BBC Scotland supplies a further update on matters pertaining to Rev. Denis Alexander and his extradition to Scotland;

    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-50866318

    Alexander failed to lodge an appeal to the Australian Federal Court’s decision to agree to Scotland’s request that he be extradited into their custody. The Crown office has until 05 Feb’ 2020 to execute the surrender warrant.

    I am assuming- though it is dangerous to assume anything when the Roman Catholic Church is concerned- that legal matters are now in hand and that the necessary warrant will be supplied to Australian authorities prior to 05 Feb’ 2020.

    Finally we may be making progress.

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