Montreal Congregation Of Holy Cross To Pay Sexual Abuse Victims

MONTREAL -- A Roman Catholic organization has agreed to pay up $18 million in compensation for sexual abuse committed over several decades in Quebec.

The Congregation of Holy Cross committed Thursday to issuing an apology and providing financial compensation for abuses committed at three different institutions between 1950 and 2001. The assaults occurred over that period at College Notre-Dame in Montreal, and over shorter periods at two other institutions.

The announcement comes after a mediation process launched last December by the congregation and by victims' representatives, who had been preparing a class-action lawsuit.

Jean-Pierre Aumont, the provincial superior of the congregation, says he is "truly pained" by the crimes committed and the suffering they caused.

Comments

[ResistImperialism]

02:00 AM on 10/08/2011

Catholics and little boys....what shall be done....

[lcelidon]

10:03 PM on 10/07/2011

I was molested by them in 78/79....at the time,my mom would not believe it....they had the aura of
"honesty and sanctity",...the lie is over.

[GiaMTL]

09:28 PM on 10/28/2011

Im sorry you went through it...

[americaisracist]

07:09 PM on 10/07/2011

burn all churches, mosques and synagogues to the ground

[joeyfoto]

07:48 AM on 10/07/2011

Swell, thanks. Now give these people their lives back.

But, let no one assume that $18,000,000 buys back any measure of moral authority for a faux-religious organization that acted in every way like a corporation, to conceal facts and evade legal and moral responsibility for every crime, while their victims twisted in the wind...

[rwaller]

06:04 AM on 10/07/2011

I am sure Jean-Pierre played a role in the decades long cover-up of the abuse. It makes his feelings of remorse hollow and meaningless. The pain and suffering he speaks of is that felt and suffered by the church.

[bonnieb333]

04:54 AM on 10/07/2011

The Catholic Church can well afford to compensate the abused victums of priests, but even that isn't enough.

I will never understand how a Catholic can continue to turn the other cheek regarding these horrible deeds that are ongoing, and continue to be part of the Catholic religion. It isn't only the abuses of these children -- the church knowing fully well what has taken place, has moved these priests from parrish to parrish.

My big question is: Why aren't these priests in jail???

[KIVPossum]

10:00 AM on 10/07/2011

My question is, why do Catholics continue to support the church? If they would stop going to mass and stop giving money, the abuse would stop. As long as people walk into a church, they are tacitly support abuse

[queenspud]

11:00 AM on 10/07/2011

The question is, why do you indict the whole priesthood, church and parishioners for the acts of a minority. We go to Chuch because we believe God is present there and the majority of us try to live good lives, help the poor, following Jesus' teachings and even suffer fools.

[see-ellen2001]

02:42 PM on 10/07/2011

No. Catholics won't abandon their faith and their Church; they prefer to wrest it back from the evil pretenders that use it to destroy peoples lives.

[bezarkobarbie]

04:12 AM on 10/07/2011

Anyone is saying that priest never abuse girls are deluded. You need to sit down and watch 'Deliver Us from Evil'. Girls ARE molested by priests as well. The church will sweep that under the rug and are less likely to settle because to them it is not as 'unnatrual' to rape a young girl then a boy. That reasoning alone should tell you everything that you need to know about the church. How much it values it's women. Not all phedophiles have a 'type'. A lot of them are oppertunisitic. People tend to forget how much time priests used to spend in homes and different programs in their parishs where they spent time alone with children.

[pinkibus]

05:39 PM on 10/07/2011

True story. RC parents put their two daughters in a a convent school so they would be safe. They really couldn't afford it. The elder was an amazingly beautiful child. The priest came every week to hear confessions. Every week he raped her. Be sure more girls than boys are sexually abused by priests. But rabbis and ministers and imams are guilty of the same thing.

[bezarkobarbie]

09:47 PM on 10/07/2011

Like I said, phedophiles are opertunistic. Being a religious leader is perfect for the,. These people trust them with everything.

[bonnieb333]

02:06 AM on 10/08/2011

Judging by what I hear and read (from reliable sources, not hearsay), it is apparent that many more males than females are sexually abused by priests. Yes, rabbis, ministers and imams have been known to commit the same kind of horrible deed, but their numbers are few and far between and could never compare top the amount of priests who are guilty of that kind of behavior.

[psnyder325]

04:45 AM on 10/07/2011

No. It's about hitting the corrupt and useless Roman Catholic Church where it live and breathes....in the pocketbook. This is the only thing they'll really understand. They might also understand if the priests who did this and the bishops who enabled them were led off in handcuffs.

[duaneanthonywebb]

02:17 AM on 10/07/2011

$18 Million dollars for accusations that were never proven? What a deal. So if I were an altar boy at a Catholic Church and I heard that the local D.A. was accusing a priest based on hearsay, and I could get alot of money - all I would have to do is say that I was touched inappropriately to? Well darn - that might explain why initially theres one victim, but then dozens more show up for the pay-out. All this time it's been about the money - well I'm just shocked.

[AnotherAndy]

02:57 PM on 10/07/2011

"Patrick Schiltz, dean of the University of St. Thomas law school in Minnesota, said that over more than a decade he had defended Catholic dioceses against sexual-abuse lawsuits in more than 500 cases, and that he had concluded that 'fewer than 10' of those cases were based on false accusations."

"Kathleen McChesney, who was the first executive director of the Office for Child and Youth Protection of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has summarized the John Jay findings on false allegations: "False reporting of sexual abuse by children is very rare."
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AtAGlance/data.htm  (both quotes from Item 9 on that link)

[LonaMarie]

03:02 PM on 10/07/2011

Clearly you know little, no, nothing about the issue of sexual abuse of children. May I suggest you go to the library and borrow two really good books, The Courage to Heal, and "Wounded Boys, Heroic Men" and read, really really read cover to cover to educate yourself. There are many other books on this topic. Read as many as you can and maybe, just maybe you might have some idea of what life is like for the victims of whatever priest, rabbi, minister, police officer, teacher, scout leader, or any other authority figures may have abused them. Don't forget when a priest does it they are also screwing with the child's immortal soul. Sadly even after all that reading you still won't understand what it is to experience it yourself. Ov course money is an issue, trust is an issue, truth, integrity etc.

[Lawyer13]

11:29 PM on 10/06/2011

has been a very bad time for the Roman Catholic church, but sufferers need to be compensated.

[p c r]

01:05 AM on 10/07/2011

The church still has more assets than most countries. The victims do need to be compensated.

[mzymr]

11:28 PM on 10/06/2011

To solve the pedophile problem.Allow priests to get married. many have girl friends now. And many others who live alone are confirmed alcoholics. Priests originally were married up till around the year 1412 I believe. Even the Pope was married back then. Eastern Orthodox priests are allowed to get married and you very seldom see any scandals with them.

[Lahi]

02:38 AM on 10/07/2011

There is a huge difference between a pedophile and a heterosexual.
The pedophile will seek out children to abuse even if he is married.
Though yes it is cruel to not allow priests and nuns to have a secular recognized relationships.

[onnozol]

03:12 AM on 10/07/2011

I said this hours ago but they won't post it. Odd.

[bezarkobarbie]

04:02 AM on 10/07/2011

You are correct, for centuries priest were allowed to get married. The church stopped allowing it because when priest died they would leave everything to their family and not the church. I think it is so much healthier for them to be married and have kids. How can you be leading people and giving advice on family when you don't have one of your own?

[mzymr]

11:24 PM on 10/06/2011

The scandal in Canada is small time compared to the scandal in the states here. The Catholic Church has paid out over $3,000,000,000 billion dollars in the last 10 years on these scandals. Now the scandals in Ireland are much worse than in Canada. A few bishops have resigned. That scandal will cost the church millions.It has been ongoing for over 50 years.
by the time it's settled

[bezarkobarbie]

04:03 AM on 10/07/2011

People in other countries are just now starting to speak up, this is never going to stop.

[captaincrawley]

10:52 PM on 10/06/2011

“Of all the sexual aberrations, chastity is the strangest.”

--Anatole France

[jaem71]

10:42 PM on 10/06/2011

When will start to see the first sexual abuse lawsuits filed against police departments and the states' attornies who refused to pursue these cases?

[captaincrawley]

10:54 PM on 10/06/2011

If ignorance is bliss, you must be a very happy person.

[beckylynnla]

12:35 AM on 10/07/2011

Are you kidding me? Is this what you truly believe? All sexual abuse by priest,or any other male religious leader, is not just to boys.

[cgrcooper]

01:16 AM on 10/07/2011

Yes it is... When was the last time you heard of a priest with a girl? Its always young boys. Gay people should not be leaders of the church becouse they clearly arent living by the bible. Just sayin