Canada Catholics pay millions to child sex victims
Moral wrongs occurred, we’ve taken steps to correct
them:
CANADA: A Catholic congregation in Canada’s Quebec province on
Thursday apologized to former students who had suffered sex abuse in
their schools and offered CAN$18 million (US$17.3 million) in
compensation.
The congregation in Sainte-Croix, not far from Quebec City, made the
announcement after reading an amicable agreement with the victims,
former students who attended three Catholic schools from 1950 to 2001.
At least 85 of them “suffered sexual abuse at the hands of a member
of the Sainte-Croix congregation or a lay person while they were
attending one of these educational institutions,” the community said in
a statement.
“I sincerely deplore these mistakes and, in the name of the
congregation of Sainte-Croix, offer my apologies for the suffering and
the indignity inflicted on the victims of this abuse,” provincial
superior Jean-Pierre Aumont said.
“Moral wrongs occurred, and we have taken steps to correct them. We
hope the victims can finally emerge from their prison of silence, heal
the wounds they suffered as best they can and take hold of their
futures,” Aumont added..This marked the first time that a Canadian
religious order had apologized for sexual abuse, said a lawyer for the
victims, Alain Arsenault.
Arsenault also noted that more victims could come forward to be added
to the list of complainants. Each will receive CAN$10,000-250,000, based
on the severity of the crimes committed against them.
The scandal, long covered up by the congregation’s leaders, erupted
in the local media in 2008.
The Roman Catholic Church is struggling to deal with rising anger and
a string of lawsuits following thousands of child sexual abuse claims in
Europe and the United States. AFP |