Sciuk: Father Christopher Sciuk

“Father Chris”

Christopher Sciuk

Christopher Scuik.

Spelling in directories is Sciuk (Newspaper have the spelling as Scuik.  I believe this is a typo.  I have used the spelling which is in the directories.

Polish priest, ordained in Poland in 1980.  Arrived in Canada unknown date but after the mid 80s.  Served in and seems to have become incardinated in the Diocese of Peterborogh, Ontario.  GUILTY plea 2001 to sex abuse of 12-year-old altar boy who was going blind and whose father had just died.  The abuse started in 1994 and continued for three years.  Father Sciuk was also found in possession of “child erotica” and porn videos, one of which entailed two boys being abused in a church.   Sentenced by Justice John Evans to 12 months house arrest.  Charges were not laid in relation to the porn.

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The following information is drawn from those copies of the Canadian Catholic Church Directory (CCCD) which I have on hand, and media (M)

2012:  Not listed in index (CCCD)

2011, 2010:  address in Cormac, Ontario (CCCD)

1999, 1998, 1997, 1995, 1994, 1993:  Pastor, St. Paul Roman Catholic Church,  Gravenhurst, Ontario (CCCD)

1994-1997:  sex abuse of young boy – the boy’s father had just died of cancer when the abuse began.  The boy at the time had been diagnosed with a condition which was causing  him to lose his eyesight (M)

1992, 1991:  Pastor, St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church, Kearney, Ontario (CCCD)

Saint Patrick’s Parish, Kearney Ontario, 1888-1988 (Father Sciuk in Kearney ON )

“June 1988, pp. 1-40  …’s departure. A native of Poland, Father Chris received his Masters degree at University of Warsaw. In 1980, he had the honour of being ordained by the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski. He was involved in parish work in Poland until coming to Canada at the invitation of his aunt, Stella Sciuk…”  (Stella Sciuk died 03 April 2009)

1985-1986:  Not listed in index (CCCD)

1980:  ORDAINED (CCCD) in Poland by Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski.

Master Degree at University of Warsaw, Poland

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Priest who abused youth won’t be jailed ; Boy, 12, was going blind, had lost father

The Toronto Sun

16 June 2001

Roberta Avery

A Roman Catholic priest who sexually assaulted a 12-year-old altar boy, who was going blind and had recently lost his father, “abused him when he was very vulnerable,” said a judge.

“He abused the trust and respect of a young boy in a time of particular pain and need,” said Justice John Evans in the Ontario Court of Justice in Bracebridge yesterday. But Justice Evans didn’t send the priest to jail.

Instead, Rev. Christopher Scuik, 47, who pleaded guilty to sexually exploiting the boy over a three-year period starting in 1994, will serve his 12-month sentence at home.

Court heard the boy, who was an altar boy at Scuik’s church in Gravenhurst, turned to Scuik, whom he called “Father Chris,” when his father died of stomach cancer in 1994. The boy had also just learned that he was going blind. He is now legally blind and has less than 2 per cent vision.

The boy’s mother said in an interview that her husband on his death bed told her that “Father Chris” would be there for their son.

“He said the priest was always someone you could turn to. So I encouraged my son to go to talk to Father Chris. I was dumbfounded when I found out what he did,” she said.

The first incident occurred when Scuik invited the boy to his house at the church to watch a movie in November, 1994. Scuik wrestled the boy to the ground and tried to put his hand down the boy’s pants and only stopped when the boy punched him in the face and ran away, the court heard. Three years of abuse followed, with the priest grabbing the boy on the buttocks or the groin on numerous occasions.

“This man had a maximum position of trust, he was (the boy’s) priest, confessor and a close family friend,” said Crown Attorney Doug Lisso.

Scuik’s lawyer, Blaise Maclean, read out several letters from parishioners who had nothing but high praise for “Father Chris,” calling him, “a holy person” who “upheld the age-old traditions of the church.”

Scuik took a leave of absence after he was charged last year and while he was packing up his belongings he was found in possession of “child erotica” and “child porn Web site” addresses as well as two pornographic videos, one of which included footage of two boys being sexually abused in a church, said Lisso. No charges have been laid as a result of the pornography. Meanwhile the boy’s mother will be asking the church to excommunicate Scuik.

“I don’t want him to think he can just go to confession and all will be forgiven,” she said.