Fallona: Father Michael Fallona csb

Share Button

Michael John A Fallona (Father Michael Fallona csb) (Father Mike Fallona)

Basilian priest.  Ordained 1967.  Lawsuit filed 2009 by Brenda Brunelle alleging sex abuse in the late 70s starting when she was a 13-year-old girl

Examination for Discovery:  09 November 2011

  

 (Picture  Left:  1966 St. Michael’s College yearbook.

 Picture Below:    Michael Fallona.  Photograph by: Star Staff, The Windsor Star)

.

________________________________________

  Documents

15 February 2011:  BMB and Fallona, Quinlan et al (redacted) (Ontario Superior Court of Justice between B.M.B and Fallona, Quinlan, et al.  B.M.b. is Brenda Brunelle)

22 October 2010:  Affidavit of Paul Ledroit (Fallona)

22 October 2010: Notice of Motion (Fallona)

 25 November 2009:  Statement of Claim to Michael Fallona, Christopher Quinlan, The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of the Diocese of London in Ontario, Bishop Ronald Peter Fabbro and The Congregation of St. Basil

19 July 2009:  Basilian Justice Advocate for Canada and Northern United States: CONFIDENTIAL REPORT: To Fr. Gordon Judd csb, Vicar General 

23 March 1978:  Windsor Star – Fallona and medical ethics

________________________________________

09 February 2011:  The tape is gone!

26 November 2010: Windsor woman files $3M abuse suit against Catholic Church and Rev. Michael Fallona

25 November 2010: Windsor woman files $3M abuse suit against Catholic Church and Rev. Michael Fallona

________________________________________

Unless other wise noted the following dates and information are drawn from available Canadian Catholic Church Directories (CCCD) of that date, 1980 Ontario Catholic Directory (OCD) , and personal contacts (PC).  Additional timelines will be added as information becomes available.

2010: 95 St. Jospeh St., Toronto (address for St. Basil’s College) (CCCD)

2005:  Basilian Annals 2005 lists Micahael Fallona as “Associated” with “The Basilian Father of the University of St. Michael’s College”.  The following appears on page 85  

 
 Basilians attached to the Basilians Fathers of the University of Toronto: 

“Father Michael Fallona, who resides at St Bernard’s Residence, Toronto, writes the following:

MICHAEL J.A. FALLONA continues to respond pastorally to the many persons (from Vancouver to Connecticut!) experiencing the pain and rejection of having become separated and divorced Catholics, and to the trauma felt by their children and families. He also mentors selected highly qualified Social Workers who, having completed appropriate and excellent graduate courses at U of T, are now Clinical Ethicists at some local Public General Hospitals.  

 

2002: 685 Finch Ave West, Toronto, Ontario (address for St. Bernard’s Retirement Residence)   (CCCD)

2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996:  95 St. Joseph St., Toronto  (CCCD)

1995, 1994: Site 5657. R.R. #3. 15th Side Rd, Milton, Ontario 905-876-3156  (Diocese of Hamilton – Bishop Anthony Tonnos)   (CCCD)

1993:  2333 Windsor Ave. West. Windsor, Ontario   (CCCD)

1992, 1991:  Apt. 202 – 2345 University Ave. West, Windsor, Ontario  (CCCD)

1985-1986:  Apt. 202 – 2345 University Ave. West, Windsor, Ontario   (CCCD)

1980:  2015 Balfour Rd., Windsor St. Vincent de Paul, Windsor, Ontario  (OCD)

1975-76:  St. Vincent de Paul, Windsor, Ontario (P) (Blog comment)1975:  Guest speaker at 1975 Ash Wednesday Retreat at St. Michael’s College School (online)

 1973-74:  listed as student, St. Michael’s College School, Toronto, ON (that’s strange?)   (CCCD)

1971-72:  listed as at St. Basil’s Seminary, Toronto, ON (CCCD)

1968-69:  listed as at St. Joseph’s College, Edmonton, Alberta (CCCD)

1966: “Graduate Studies”  at Saint Michael’s College (SMCS yearbook)

1965:  teaching French at St. Michael’s College School, Moderator of Forensic Society (online)

1964: Home Room Moderator XII-I, French, Moderator of Physics Society (online)

209 Responses to Fallona: Father Michael Fallona csb

  1. Sylvia says:

    It’s good to see you back Brenda 🙂

  2. Brunelle Brenda says:

    Once again I open the Windsor Star and find myself reading an article about sexual abuse and the Roman Catholic Church. Today’s headlines read’s

    Diocese funds sexual abuse support group
    THE WINDSOR STAR APRIL 14, 2011
    The Roman Catholic diocese of London has renewed its annual funding for a support group that helps male survivors of sexual abuse.

    The Silence to Hope Project will receive $80,000 from the diocese this year. The diocese has been the group’s main benefactor since 2007.

    “The church is taking a key role in helping people in our communities heal from the wounds of the past,” said Tom Wilken, Silence to Hope’s founder.

    He said the diocese’s funding not only provides services to help victims of abuse by clergy, but all male victims of sexual abuse.

    Silence to Hope offers free group counselling session in nine counties, including Windsor and Essex County.

    It also offers community referrals, workshops, education and awareness.

    Wilken authors books used in counselling victims. Those books have begun to be distributed to victims around the globe.. .”

    At what time will the public truly learn of how the church deals with its victims that come forward. I can personally tell you that in my case it has been anything but supportive.

    The continuance of misleading facts the church preaches on how they are compassionate with victims that have come forward and encouraging those who have not to do so only reinforces to me they are no where near correcting the problem within the church.

    The day I open the paper and read a headline The Roman Catholic Church acknowledges the damage and hardship caused to their victims as a direct result of their failure to deal with this issue with the seriousness it is, will be the day that I will breathe a slight feeling of hope and relief.

    I am outraged that these types of articles are printed in the media without offering a balanced point of view from the other side, the victims side.

    Change will only occur when we acknowledge the truth and take ownership. The church shuts us down, minimizes the damage they caused and handle most of their business behind closed doors in secrecy.

    Our church is no closer to recovery than it has been for the past decades.

    The future of our young children, grand children and great grand children are in serious jeopardy.

    We may not have the power to change the way the church runs its business; but we do have the power to change the way we accept the business the church sells.

    Never again will I be fooled into believing that clergy or anyone else for that matter are above the ability of causing harm.

    Priest are men first, just because of the career path they take on as adults does not give them any power over and above you and I.

    My goodness now we have to worry about Deacons that are being ordained. My initial thought was thank goodness married men with families can attend the seminary, be ordained as a deacon and perhaps rescue the church. But the truth of the matter is that, allowing married men to be ordained as deacons, is another loop hole for pedophiles to hide behind a collar and gain the automatic trust of young children.

    I am sorry for being so negative today, of course not all men are pedophiles just as not all priest are.

    I am just so tired of reading stories in the paper that falsely state the church is working to assist victims when in fact, the church is responsible for re victimizing the ones that finally do come forward.

    BB

  3. Larry Green says:

    I find it very sad Brenda and so unjust that even in their lame and deceitful attempt to prop up their image as one of compassion toward male victims , you , a female survivor is totally left out of the equation. Don’t apologize for being negative today, you are who you are and it’s okay to be you.

  4. Larry Green says:

    I do hear and recognize the pain and anguish you are experiencing produced by the relentless continuance of being treated unjustly and indignantly by your powerful oppressors, but underneath it all Brenda there lay hidden a treasure worth enduring all the anguish that you have. The most fundamental desire of every human being is to be ‘happy’ (blessed) and the fact that you have taken this very huge step in your life is very clear evidence that it is to a happy/blessed life to where the path you have chosen leads.

    • Brunelle Brenda says:

      Thank you Larry again for your reassuring words and thoughtful comments.
      Have a wonderful weekend!

      I am going to spend my weekend with those I love most. that starts today with my grandson, and then tomorrow with my family and friends. and Sunday with my mom.

      I don’t think I will read any newspapers this weekend.
      Just returned from a 1 week stay in the hospital, I plan to enjoy life and let life enjoy me.

      I wont be defeated again.

      BB

  5. Sylvia says:

    Glad you are out of the hospital and feeling better Brenda. Take care of yourself and do what the doctor tells you to do.

    Enjoy every golden moment of your weekend. Time to smell the flowers 🙂 You are due!

  6. Brunelle Brenda says:

    15 February 2011: BMB and Fallona, Quinlan et al (Ontario Superior Court of Justice between B.M.B and Fallona, Quinlan, et al. B.M.b. is Brenda Brunelle)

    This is exactly the truth of how the Diocese of London respects and treats victims that come forward to seek healing for the abuse they endured as young children.

    Publicly they the Diocese is inviting victims to come forward, that they are offering counselling and want to help begin the healing process with sexual abuse victims.

    Well, I guess if you have been abused by an ex priest that pleads guilty, what else can the Diocese say…….. But when you are dealing with the norm, and guilty pedophile priest do not take ownership for their committed crime against young children…. those victims receive no help, no offer of healing and no cooperation of disclosing documents that will reveal the truth. Instead we are forced to appeal decisions, delay proceedings to justice and increase the costs involved in such litigation matters.

    This is disgusting, and outragious…. I thought I had reached the point of not being surprised anymore by the behaviour and actions of the Roman Catholic church; I just today realized that I am still shocked by its decisions and behaviour.

    I will not let this end here, my motion is under appeal and that appeal will be heard in June. I have full intentions of being present during this appeal process. My attorney supports me and my decision to be present.

    Read between the lines of this motion published online. It makes me sick to learn just exactly what was going on in the church I once called home. Under the supervision of a Priest I once admired and respected.

    what more can I say except how embarrassed I truly am for continuing to be shocked with information that is so common within this institution.

    Brenda

  7. prima facie says:

    Brenda: after reading your many posts, it seems to me, you are not the type of person who will be backing down or retreating. I admire you for this “trait”, “decision”, “courage” or whatever it is. Believe me, you CAN leave a “mark”, even if you don’t get everything you want or change everything that MUST be changed.
    “May the Force Be With You”.

    • Brunelle Brenda says:

      Prima facie, thank you for the compliment of having a trait to fight for justice.

      I am not sure that I have this trait or not; if I do, it has certainly been hidden for years.

      Now that I have learned first hand on how victims/survivors are treated by the Diocese and yet read false statements in the media of how they are encouraging victims to step forward has put a force under my feet that will not rest until the truth finally comes out.

      Not only my truth but the truth of all survivors.

      Have a wonderful Easter weekend, I have decided to spend my assisting with the downtown mission.

      Brenda

  8. john says:

    Stop being a victim – you have no power!

  9. Brenda Brunelle says:

    Good morning all,

    Well the appeal my lawyer filed with respect to the motion heard February 15th, 2011 will finally take place on June 15 in London Ont.

    All we can do is pray for justice and an opportunity for the truth to be fully disclosed.
    For me the silence is has been as suffocating as the abuse itself.

    2011 and still these priests are given special treatment over and above the average citizen, even through our judicial system. That is what frightens me most.

    At what point in time will society truly see priests as men first, then recognize their profession or calling? I still believe in respect for the all the true men of God that serve their communities in the way Jesus calls them to do. But for the sake of the innocent children, society truly needs to step back and try to separate the one bad apple among the whole tree. Only then we will be able to protect our future young children from having to experience what so many have had to live through during our young formative years.

    Peace be with all of you.
    Brenda Brunelle

  10. JG says:

    Good Morning to you Brenda.
    Good luck with your court appearance and your interior journey…

    We are all at a loss for words when trying to explain the church’s response and their attitude with the victims of the “collared criminals”…I think we were all brain washed as individuals and as a society , in believing “they” had a direct connection to God…They took advantage of that and fed the myth over hundreds of years, from generation to generation. This is not a problem of the last fifty years or so , as they would have us believe but a systematic, well organized “good old boys club”. They can’t start telling us the truth now after lying for so long and protecting one another…Just like the little thieves or any other criminal, they like to “taint” or “groom” the next one, the “co-worker” so they will not be able to “tell” on the established system. WE are only seeing the tip of the “abusive church iceberg”… whether it concerns child abuse, financial abuse or influence peddling, corruption…They can’t come “clean” ’cause we’ll see how dirty they all were/are…I’m at the point where I find offensive calling “it” a “Church”… Everytime I hear that , the echo returns as “sect”…and much louder!
    As a very young man/boy in the 1950’s , I remember the talk or public display concerning these “heavenly beings” … As they “floated”(no legs under that priestly robe!!…) their way through the village or when they went on their “yearly” collection in the homes, women..entire families dropped on their knees, heads bowed …In mud, snow or dirty back streets, some of those so called “men of God”…That was all OK with them and they seemed to expect it, with total humility!!!…If anyone did that today, how ridiculous would we all view that “pagan” display. It will take time but I truly believe our battle, the little seeds which now seem so insignificant because of the “weeds” will become the Garden…
    As you said Brenda, we will see the true “men of God” as well “the true women of God” , when we no longer feel bound by “their” self-serving rules…
    You are frightened by them and it is very scary to think of yourself as no longer with “them”…I’m on that journey now but could not have visualized it just a short time ago. I am beginning to feel liberated, at peace and very thankful for it.
    What comes after “them”??!!…Maybe the silence is our time to reflect, Brenda.
    “The meek shall inherit…”
    Be strong and believe in yourself first. After that everything is possible.

    JG

    • Sylvia says:

      JG, are you sure that the priests were not carrying the Blessed Sacrament? It was standard practise to acknowledge/revere Our Lord – not the priest – by falling to the knees when a priest who was know to be carrying the Blessed Sacrament to the sick and dying passed by. The reverence was directed to Our Lord. The same holds for genuflection when entering a church. We genuflect to honour Christ in the Tabernacle, not the priest sitting in front of or aside the Tabernacle.

      In fact, I was thinking that devotion and reverence toward the Blessed Sacrament seems to be inversely proportional to tolerance for clerical child sex abuse and clerical sexual predators. There is little to no reverence exhbited these days to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, either in or out of a Church. In this our clergy set the standard and the example.

      • JG says:

        Sylvia, I could write a book on this probably but the short of it is I remember very well , although I was no more than 3 to 6 years old, the entire family kneeling at the door waiting for the priest to come in the house…he would bless the flock and get his due(?)…I remember the genuflection by women/girls when they met the priest on the street…if my memory is correct I believe the norm was “half” a genuflection .There were however the seriously devout on both knees…I still have that picture in mind of a woman on her knees in front of the priest , on the street…The men removed their hats and bowed respectfully…Would all have been quite acceptable, to a certain point, if they had kept their end of the bargain.To be fair some of them probably deserved a lot of respect but that is also what made us more vulnerable to the predators among them.
        In my young mind’s memory and in the precocious rebel as well, I was very intrigued and did not really understand this out of proportion submission…I couldn’t understand why one aunt spent her free time at church while the other stayed as far from the church as she could…I remember questioning that but was given a vague, mumbled answer. I now see the relation between the “less than devout” aunt and the abuse situation….
        Those were visual cues, hard to comprehend even today…Even more difficult why I remember feeling “uncomfortable” after only “one” appearance as an altar boy???…I just know I never returned! Why I remembered just last year, in a conversation with a sibling, being sent to get some vegetables from the priest…I just remember coming out of the presbytery and looking in the brown paper bag, thinking that “I came here for nothing, there’s not enough for everyone??..”….I don’t remember anything else…I don’t believe anything happened to me, I’m just blank on the encounter…Intriguing however for other reasons unspoken…Very different world then!
        The real questioning started in October of 1963 when my mother returned from church very upset…”Why was it a sin last week and it is not this week?…something wrong!” Then I see her with her hands in the dishwater making a lot of noise but being very quiet…She had been told we could now eat meat on Friday…
        “Our Church” has twisted so much of the “spiritual message” to promote itself, more will need to change to get to the Truth. Probably another 2000 year controversy…

        Her I have to quote “Proud survivor” , just below on this tread(05June) where she says “..guiding hand of the Holy Spirit…listen to it whisper and call me…” She has been “paying attention” to her Life and that “whisper” is the difference between “believing” and having “no doubt”…
        She has been listening very well and I became very happy when I saw where she is in her life…surviving and thriving I’m sure!
        She has much to share as well…
        “…seek and ye shall find..” More questions remain…but kneel before no man or his plans!…
        Enough for now
        JG

        • Sylvia says:

          There is never a lack of new things to learn! Not the Blessed Sacrament? And not kneeling to receive a blessing?

          I’m not defending indefensible JG. I think you know that. But I do want to be sure that that’s the way it was and not the way it seemed. I truly had never heard of people revering a priest in such fashion. As I say, there is always room to learn, and I continue to learn.

          BUT, I stand by my statement that devotion and reverence toward the Blessed Sacrament seems inversely proportional to tolerance for clerical child sex abuse and clerical sexual predators :).

          • JG says:

            Sylvia…
            You want “to be sure that’s the way it was and not the way it seemed”. You have already answered that over and over and over again with your site… Nothing was the way it seemed, depending where or who you were with…Nothing with “them” IS the way they want to make it appear, nothing WAS “back then” and I am having a serious reflection as to the way it really was “in the beginning”…

            They have twisted everything as far back as you want to probe and I believe they “manipulated” the true intentions of the original words…of the New Testament ,at the very least, for their Grand plan. After a lifetime of questioning, observing and sometimes denouncing or approving , I have to internalize the true intentions of the “Message”
            left with us …A plan, this one, for a true society as was always intended, from the Beginning… I see nothing of it in the leaders of the catholic church anymore. I don’t need to convince anyone however nor do I need to destroy anyone’s faith. I am just “listening” to the “whisper”, as I have done all my life. All is well in my corner of this earthly paradise…I am blessed everyday and thankful everyday…I Believe, without a doubt!…

            Were the priests in a class apart when and where I was as a young man? They ruled and used , corrupted and punished …It was reverence maybe but submission mostly! They were the law, the judge, the jury as well as the executioners. They could keep track of their success, plan their moves through confessions. They talked of God and Jesus and all that is Holly but served themselves at the trough, with fancy linen and silverware…and little boys and girls they could “prey” on: “poor”, “orphans”, “needy”, …
            Do you think I can ever believe or trust anything they ever touched?
            It was as it seemed, a self serving abusive pagan sect in true Roman spirit. From the dark ages!
            They only used Jesus and his words as good business practices…

            All our Lives ARE the Blessed Sacrament…

            JG

  11. Brenda Brunelle says:

    JG

    Thank you so much for writing such a heartfelt message to me and all others that travelling this same journey as you and I. Your words are so powerful, and are written with such confidence. I look forward to such stability in my own heart and soul.

    I feel I am there some days, and like so many others, find myself taking two steps backwards, but that is all part of the healing process. I believe in the truth and I believe in Justice. I had hoped that we would have reached that point by now, but I have learned the wheels of justice move slowly.

    I don’t regret the months and years of waiting for my day in court, as I believe that I am in a much better position today to speak out against what happened. I no longer feel the responsibility I once felt. In my case the length of time my case has taken truly did benefit me.

    If they thought by dragging out my situation would make me walk away, they were mistaken. this time has only strengthened me, and gave me a cause to fight for all other victims that find themselves in this very situation.

    JG, thank you for your inspirational message.

    Peace be with you along your way!

    bb

  12. Proud survivor says:

    Brenda,
    Stay strong in your quest for justice! I can see from reading through this page and the long comment thread that your journey for justice has not been without some very difficult mountains to climb, and know that there will be many more ahead. In reading your case, I feel a solidarity. I am a survivor of abuse by Fr. Jack McCann. As a female survivor, I often feel on the outskirts of this issue, and the crimes against us continue to be minimized by the media’s focus on male victims.

    I believe that in order to truly heal spiritually we need to detach from the institution of the church. Keep in mind it is only an earthly construct. We are spiritual beings on this earth to become more spiritual. I don’t see how there can be any spiritual growth in a place where men, (and even some women) are hanging on so fiercely to greed and power.

    I was fortunate when my first husband left me in 1989, to be working with a very wise therapist. To gain any sense of place in this world, I was forced to examine the role that the sexual abuse had played in my life. I was a Catholic school teacher teaching kindergarten, and the church was my life. I was the choir director, cantor, reader etc. Using my therapist as a liaison, we set up a confrontation with McCann. I remember driving to my appointment, with some trepidation, but I was ready to finally make peace with what had happened to me. When I arrived, there was no McCann! My therapist, Dixie (I stress, that she was a very wise woman), had a very bad feeling about any confrontation, trusted her instincts and sought help from her supervisory group! McCann was unwilling to bring anyone else to the meeting, and she knew that, along with some other things he was saying, meant he was trying to “sweep it under the carpet”. Her willingness to share her vulnerability in the process, helped me to see that the only way I could heal was to go to the police, and work through the justice system.
    I have chosen to live me life away from the church. I was not going to sacrifice my dreams for a happy family, and I certainly would not go through the annulment process. (given what I know now, about who was on the marriage tribunals, that was a very wise decision). Today I am fortunate to have a wonderful supportive husband and two fabulous children. Throughout my child-raising years I’ve often longed for my childhood memories of lenten sacrifice, the peace of reconciliation, the joyful sense of renewal, and the rhythm of the church year, that served to keep me grounded in the chaos of my life. Over and over again, I have had to mourn that loss. When moms on the soccer field talked about first communion parties, and preparation for confirmation, I felt the tug of loss. Once, driving my ten year old past a church, he commented that religion was more important in daddy’s childhood than yours, “wasn’t it, Mom?” Where was that self I once was, where church was everything?!

    Our spiritual journeys share a similar experience, Brenda, and yet we have taken different approaches to them. Some how or other, we are once more in a similar place. In all my naïveté, I believed, that when I publicly exposed McCann’s crimes, launched a civil suit, asking for accountability from the diocese, and the oblates, that the church would want to do what’s best for it’s members, and remove him from a position where he’d ever have the opportunity to hurt someone again. I was completely retraumatized, when I discovered, that not only was he saying mass regularly, occasionally con-celebrated mass with the bishop, but also lived alone in his own apartment! Where was the justice and concern for victims in that? To discover via a commentator on this website, that he’d told his closest friends that he’d only pled guilty because he would have a female judge at sentencing, was completely shocking to me! Are we not taught that to be forgiven we must confess our sins and amend our lives?

    While my relationship with the church is over, my relationship with God, is not. I have felt the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit, throughout my life, I will continue to listen to it whisper and call me to do what’s needed in this search for justice for children!

    Stay strong, and know that your search for justice helps and heals all of us!

    My apologies if I’ve been redundant or unclear. 8’m posting these comments from my iPad, and I can’t scroll back to see what I’ve written. I’m not used to commenting on blogs like this and in the future I’ll compose my post in Word, and the cut and paste it in the blog.

  13. Proud survivor says:

    Sylvia,

    Is there any way we can link my comments to the McCann page? I’m realizing now I could have done it if I was working from my laptop, but without a keyboard on my iPad, I don’t know how to do it.
    Thanks!

    Also, thanks again, for the work you do on this maintaining this blog. It truly is an invaluable gift!!!

  14. Sylvia says:

    It’s done Proud Survivor 🙂

  15. Brenda Brunelle says:

    We lost our appeal. Justice Tausendfreund ruled the same way the original Judge did. He said that we didn’t plead mental illness (pedophilia) in the claim even though we pleaded all of the elements for it. He has denied leave to appeal. We cannot gain access to his health records. The next step is to move straight into discovery now.

    I will reserve my comment on this judge’s behaviour in the courtroom and share it once all is said and done. I will say this much, however.. these types of cases are extremely sensitive and difficult for both sides in the court room, there should be no room for a JUDGE to sit at his bench and make a mockery of the case before him. I will be certain that he hears exactly my opinion of his behaviour. So much for our justice system. In my case with our evidence, the medical records would have been nice to have, but certainly not necessary. My disappointment is with the judge and his very inappropriate comment to me.

  16. Larry Green says:

    I’m sorry to hear that you are faced with such a judge Brenda and I only hope and pray that whatever his comment was , it is not an indication of a pre-conceived un-just verdict.I sure do hope your lawyer has a keen sense and the means to avert such a travesty.
    In any case remain determined and commited to the knowledge that the truth will set you free no matter what. The judge could possibly set Fallona free but Fallona will never ever be free.

  17. Brenda Brunelle says:

    Hi Larry,

    I finally have been given my date to face Fallona. His discovery is scheduled for November 9, 2011. I will be present during this meeting and plan to face him directly as he is forced to finally speak the truth.

    If he does not, then I wont make it easy for him to lie, as I will be sitting directly across the table from him as he answers each question thrown to him.

    Brenda

    • Larry Green says:

      Hi Brenda,
      I pray that all goes well for you as you face this person and remember you don’t have to face him alone, just ask Jesus to come along with you and surely He will.
      Please beware though that no one can force Fallona to speak the truth.
      I don’t think it unreasonable to assume that he is quite capable from concealing the truth even from himself.
      While you are no longer afraid of the truth and have been set free by it, he is most probably very very much afraid of the truth and would not be to easily convinced that even he could be set free by it.
      The time has come where he must choose between one freedom or another. The path he has blazed for himself is very narrow and very dark. Therefore, which ever way he chooses to answer the questions put to him, “ Justice” does prevail even if it sometimes appears not to.

  18. proudsurvivor says:

    Brenda,
    Good luck with the discovery. Someone recently told me, that priests will often use the “doctrine of mental reservation” (see wikipedia) to tell their version of events. This doctrine explains how when we hear them blatantly lie (under oath) we find ourselves saying “how could a priest lie like that?” I still have a copy of the discovery of Jack McCann. It would be comical if it weren’t so painful. I hope the discovery gives you a bit more peace in your struggle for justice

  19. Sylvia says:

    I added the discovery date to the Legal Calendar Brenda. The public can’t attend but it will be a reminder for all of us that that’s the day and that we should keep you in our thoughts and prayers in a special way.

  20. Brenda Brunelle says:

    Thank you everyone for all your love and support. I will certainly update you on the outcome.

    I am hopeful he will be honest, but I am preparing myself for a possible let down.

    I know that I am not alone, and have not been alone, I feel your strength, encouragement and good will daily.

    May peace remain still within all of us.

    Sincerely,

    Brenda

  21. Sylvia says:

    Thinking about you Brenda as you head off to Toronto for Discovery. You’ll be just fine. Hold your head high. Stay strong. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

    • Brenda Brunelle says:

      Thank you Sylvia for your thoughts and prayers. I did attend the Discovery of Fr. Fallona and the Order of St. Basil on November 9th in Toronto ON.

      It was quite a long day filled with heavy emotion filled with the loss of my past and the impact left on my future.

      Although I am unable to disclose the findings of yesterday’s discovery I can at least celebrate publicly that I was able to achieve my main focus. That of course forcing Fallona to sit in a room with me and confront his behaviour. Nearly three years ago he refused to see me in spite of my many pleas to see him.

      Today I can say he no longer has that power over me, he was forced to sit across the table from me and he was forced to answer questions that will now become part of a public record.

      I can’t say that this meeting has helped ease any shame that I have experienced at his hands, but I do feel stronger having had the opportunity to face him again and force him to revisit decisions he made in his past that were less than charitable.

      I thank you for your support, prayers and good wishes. Once I am able to release details of his discovery I will certainly do that.

      I will never agree to remain silent with this case. My story is out, and under no circumstances will I agree to protect his shame and hide his truths.

      I sincerely thank all of you.

      Brenda Brunelle

  22. Sylvia says:

    It’s good to hear from you Brenda. You made it through! Good for you. You sat face to face with him. For all of the fears which must have plagued you, you did it.

    Isn’t it the strangest thing? I am sure that if he had had the decency to meet with you three years ago you would never have chosen the path you now tread. And, had that been the case, not a single soul would know of your allegations.

    I am not in your shoes Brenda so far be it for me to wish this painful journey upon you, but, honestly, I think it’s good that we know what you have to say about Father Michael Fallona csb

    I wonder would you be at peace had he met with you three years ago? I suppose there’s really no way of knowing, is there? And I wonder if you wonder about that too 🙂

    No matter, all I can say is thanks be to God the situation arose which prompted you to speak up publicly. You’re growing stronger by the day Brenda 🙂

  23. Brenda Brunelle says:

    I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a joyful holiday season.

    I wish for each of you a peaceful and healthy New Year.

    Love,
    Brenda

  24. Lina says:

    Thank you Brenda!

    Those same good wishes I send to you also to all your loved ones.

    Lina

  25. Brenda Brunelle says:

    *Hi Sylvia, this matter is now resolved.  Regrettably I am unable to disclose details of the settlement

  26. Sylvia says:

    I’m happy for you that it is finally over Brenda.  That’s been nearly two years.  

    I too regret that you can’t disclose details of the settlement, but at least thanks to you we know some of the basic facts and a few things we would never have known otherwise about Father Fallona.  Thank you Brenda 🙂

  27. http://tiff.net/festival

    If anyone had their heads in the sand before this film, they will certainly pull them out of the sand after seeing it.  Watch for its debut !

  28. Sylvia says:

    The link didn’t come through Brenda, but I think I found the film you are referencing:  Mea Maxima Culpa:  Silence in the House of God.  Here’s a link to the Programmers Note.

  29. Brenda Brunelle says:

    Fr. Chris Quinlan is now deceased! The perpetrator outlived the enabler.

    Well, Hell now has one more fallen Angel.

    Brenda Brunelle

Leave a Reply to Sylvia Cancel reply