“Sask. priest to be extradited to Scotland to face sexual and physical assault charges” & related article

A Catholic priest who served for decades in Saskatchewan could be facing extradition on sexual abuse charges relating to his time as a Benedictine monk in Scottish boys’ schools.

The allegations against Father Robert MacKenzie span roughly 30 years — from the 1950s to the 1980s — and involve several complainants who attended two boarding schools in Scotland. That was confirmed by MacKenzie’s lawyer, who stressed that his client maintains his innocence.

“Father Robert MacKenzie categorically denies now, and he has denied under oath to the minister of justice, that he was involved in any sexual impropriety,” said lawyer Alan McIntyre.

The Archdiocese of Regina sent a letter to its pastors and parishes on Monday, advising them that Scottish authorities have charged MacKenzie, now in his mid-80s, with offences relating to sexual and physical abuse. It said the authorities obtained a surrender order last month from Canada’s minister of justice. That is an important step in clearing the way for extradition to Scotland.

But McIntyre said his client will fight extradition. He plans to ask for judicial review of the minister’s decision at the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.

He also faulted the minister for not taking MacKenzie’s “very poor” health into account.

A spokeswoman for the minister of justice declined to comment specifically on the case, citing a publication ban on aspects of the extradition proceedings.

“What we can confirm is that the Ministerial process in this case is ongoing,” she said.

MacKenzie arrived in Canada in the late 1980s, serving briefly in Regina before a lengthy ministry in Cupar and neighbouring Lipton and Dysart. He retired in 2002, but continued to assist other priests with their tasks.

The archdiocese first learned of the Scottish allegations against MacKenzie in 2013, according to spokesman Deacon Eric Gulash. He said the archdiocese acted to keep MacKenzie away from children. The Scottish investigation subsided shortly after, but picked up steam around 2016. As the allegations became more concerning, the archdiocese relieved MacKenzie of his priestly duties and moved him to a home for retired priests in Regina.

He remains there today, free under certain conditions while his case moves forward.

No allegations of sexual abuse against MacKenzie have surfaced in the communities he served while in Saskatchewan, according to the archdiocese. Father Brad Fahlman, the archbishop’s delegate for clergy sexual abuse, said the church is trying to offer support for anyone who may choose to report abuse.

“There’s efforts made at each of the parishes where he served to make them aware of the situation, and an invitation as far as it can go to invite victims to come forward.”

He said the archdiocese has requested that its parishes put on prayer services designed by and for victims of sexual abuse.

“Victims of sexual abuse, or clergy sexual abuse, they’re not too anxious to come forward,” he said. “We can try and create the safest environment, the safest invitation, for them to come forward as possible.”

According to what Fahlman has heard, MacKenzie was well-loved in Cupar. Karie Battyanie, who manages a restaurant in town and once worked at the local grocery store, remembers him as a kindly old man who came in every week to buy lottery tickets. Like many, she called him “Father Bob.”

Though the allegations first became common knowledge years ago, her reaction remains one of disbelief.

“A person just doesn’t want to think evil of such a nice man,” she said. “He was just so friendly, happy and just kind of a jolly old guy.”

Battyanie hopes the proceedings in Scotland, if they take place, will give MacKenzie a chance to clear his name.

Media in the United Kingdom have been reporting on abuse in the two Catholic boarding schools — Fort Augustus Abbey School and feeder school Carlekemp — since 2013. Alleged survivors of sexual abuse there have told harrowing stories about a pedophile ring involving multiple monks and horrific abuse of students. MacKenzie worked in both and has been named in the reporting.

In an interview with the Observer, one alleged victim called what he endured “systematic, brutal, awful torture.”

But McIntyre said it was irresponsible for the archdiocese to send out a letter to parishes and the media on what remain allegations, unproven in court.

He noted that his client has spent more than 30 years in Saskatchewan without “a scintilla of evidence” of abuse at any the parishes he worked at. He said the publicity will further tarnish MacKenzie’s reputation.

“All his life’s work will turn to ashes,” McIntyre said.

Fahlman explained that the archdiocese is taking its cue from victims of sexual abuse, and making a gesture of transparency to show it has nothing to hide.

“We’re caught in an in-between position,” Fahlman said. “Unfortunately, perpetrators get off scot free and the victim is further victimized. So we’re walking a very fine line, and our preference is for the victim.

“It’s very gruelling for them to put themselves through this.”

awhite-crummey@postmedia.com

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