There have been various cases of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Antigonish on the part of Roman Catholic clergy.

1950s cases

On 7 August 2009, Bishop

Raymond Lahey Raymond John Lahey (born 29 May 1940) is a Canadian former priest and former bishop of the Catholic Church. He was Bishop of the Diocese of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, from 2003 to 2009. Lahey was charged in 2009 with the importation of child pornog ...

announced that the

Diocese of Antigonish The Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish ( la, Dioecesis Antigonicensis) is a Latin Rite diocese in Nova Scotia, Canada. Its current diocesan ordinary is Wayne Joseph Kirkpatrick. History The Diocese was established on 22 September 1844, under ...

had reached a $15 million settlement in a

class action lawsuit A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...

filed by 125 victims of sexual abuse by Hugh Vincent MacDonald and other diocese priests dating from 1950 to 2009. The investigation began after David Martin committed suicide in April 2002, accusing in his suicide note MacDonald of sexually abusing him in the 1970s. Hugh MacDonald was charged with more than two dozen charges of sexual assaults against children and other members of his former parishes before he died in 2004. The settlement against the diocese was approved by the

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia The Nova Scotia Supreme Court is a superior court in the province of Nova Scotia. The Supreme Court consists of 25 judicial seats including the position of Chief Justice and Associate Chief Justice. At any given time there may be one or more addit ...

on 10 September 2009. In 2012 the diocese satisfied its legal obligations to pay out $15 million to the victims of sexual abuse, having to sell a large number of its properties, liquidating the bank accounts of many of its churches, and borrowing $6.5 million from private lenders to make the payout.

Allegations against Bishop Raymond Lahey

In September 2009, Bishop

's laptop was seized upon his return to Canada, after having visited parts of Europe.

Canada Border Services Agency The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; french: Agence des services frontaliers du Canada, ''ASFC'') is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border control (i.e. protection and surveillance), immigration enforcement, and cu ...

officers had performed a random search of his computer, uncovering images that raised concerns. Following an investigation Lahey was charged with the importation and possession of child pornography, and he subsequently tendered his resignation as Bishop for the Diocese. Lahey is alleged to have responded to the allegations by stating that he had never abused a child, and that he would "never have any sexual interest in a person under 18". Subsequent to his arrest, allegations emerged that Lahey had previously been brought to the attention of former St. John's archbishop

Alphonsus Liguori Penney Archbishop Alphonsus Liguori Penney (17 September 1924 – 12 December 2017) was a Canadian Catholic priest who was Archbishop of St. John's from 1979 to 1991. He was born in St. John's, Newfoundland. Sexual abuse scandal The Winter Commission wa ...

in regard to child pornography allegations in the 1980s. On 21 November 2009

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

named

Brian Joseph Dunn Brian Joseph Dunn (born 1955) is a Canadian prelate of the Catholic Church who is Archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth, Halifax-Yarmouth. He was Roman Catholic Diocese of Antigonish, Bishop of Antigonish from 2010 to 2019 ...

as the Bishop of the Diocese of Antigonish. Archbishop of Halifax

Anthony Mancini Anthony Mancini KGOHS (born November 27, 1945) is a Canadian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the Archbishop of Halifax-Yarmouth. He retired on November 27, 2020. Biography Early life Born in Mignano Monte Lungo, near Napl ...

had served as Apostolic Administrator from September 2009 until Bishop Dunn's installation on 25 January 2010. Lahey pleaded guilty to the charges on 4 May 2011. He requested imprisonment, surrendering his right to bail. On 4 January 2012, he was sentenced to 15 months of prison time and 24 months of probation. However, because he had maspent 8 months in pre-trial custody, he was given time served and was discharged on the same day.Bishop Lahey gets time served for child porn
4 January 2012
4 January 2012 This occurred as a result of a law that was repealed by the federal government in 2010; it had allowed judges to give 2-for-1 credit for time served. This was only possible in Lahey's case because he was charged in 2009, before the law was repealed. On 16 May 2012, it was announced that Raymond Lahey had been

defrocked Defrocking, unfrocking, degradation, or laicization of clergy is the removal of their rights to exercise the functions of the ordained ministry. It may be grounded on criminal convictions, disciplinary problems, or disagreements over doctrine or d ...

by a decree by

In
Canadian literature Canadian literature is the literature of a multicultural country, written in languages including Canadian English, Canadian French, Indigenous languages, and many others such as Canadian Gaelic. Influences on Canadian writers are broad both ge ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

writer

Linden MacIntyre Linden Joseph MacIntyre (born May 29, 1943) is a Canadian journalist, broadcaster and novelist. He has won ten Gemini Awards, an International Emmy and numerous other awards for writing and journalistic excellence, including the 2009 Scotiabank ...

, fictionalized the ongoing events of the scandal in his award-winning novel '' The Bishop's Man'', which was published in 2009. The novel's guilt-ridden

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

is a

Roman Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

and former fixer for the

named Fr. Duncan MacAskill. After years of quietly burying potential scandals involving the Diocese's priests, Fr. MacAskill has been assigned by his Bishop to a remote parish on

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

and ordered to maintain a low profile.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antigonish Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in Canada Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of Halifax Religion in Nova Scotia Catholic Church in Nova Scotia 2009 in Canada Child sexual abuse in Canada

1950s cases

Allegations against Bishop Raymond Lahey

In Canadian literature Canadian literature is the literature of a multicultural country, written in languages including Canadian English, Canadian French, Indigenous languages, and many others such as Canadian Gaelic. Influences on Canadian writers are broad both ge ...

See also

References

In
Canadian literature Canadian literature is the literature of a multicultural country, written in languages including Canadian English, Canadian French, Indigenous languages, and many others such as Canadian Gaelic. Influences on Canadian writers are broad both ge ...