In 1989, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's commissioned an inquiry into the sexual abuse of boys by members of the clergy and Christian Brothers. Headed by former Lieutenant-Governor Gordon Winter, an Anglican, the commission strongly criticized the Archdiocesan administration for its handling of child abuse allegations, writing that it adopted a "minimal response policy" (138) which often amounted to no more than sending the offenders out of the province.

BRON

"Church officials aligned themselves with the accused;" the commission wrote, "their response to victims was thus inappropriate and un-Christian and this compounded the victims' initial sense of betrayal by the Church" (139). Archbishop Alphonsus Penney resigned as a result of the commission's findings.

bron

A TALE OF TWO BISHOPS

and 

the saga of Raymond Lahey

by

Richard Sipe  2012

CBC KLIK

5-10-2009 
The Telegram

The Canadian Press

Former archbishop Alphonsus Penney had been made aware
of child porn allegations 20 years ago: Archdiocese says

...

During a public inquiry into abuse at Mount Cashel in October 1989, Shane Earle - a former resident of the orphanage - testified he saw something in Lahey's home as a teenager that disturbed him and caused his hospitalization for depression.

The inquiry heard that the incident happened in 1985 at Lahey's home. Earle said he lost control after spotting something in the house, but at that point inquiry lawyer Clayton Powell quickly warned him not to mention what he had seen.
Police in Newfoundland and Labrador are reviewing the allegation including audio and video records of interviews with "victims and offenders" from the investigation of sex abuse allegations at the Mount Cashel orphanage.


Today the Archdiocese of St. John's said last Thursday it became aware of Earle's testimony.

According to a news release, it states that since hearing the media reports, Archbishop Martin Currie asked for a review of what officials in the Archdiocese might have known at the time.

In the Hughes Inquiry Report, it is written: "He (Shane Earle) went to Portugal Cove and spoke to Father Kevin Molloy, telling him stories of Mount Cashel that upset the priest who promised to make inquiries."

Based on this information, Currie contacted Molloy and was informed by Molloy that he had met with Earle and that the conversation between them included reference to Lahey. 
Molloy said he passed on the information he learned from Earle to then Archbishop Penney.

klik

The latest scandal has hit the Catholic Church hard.

Lahey's laptop and other media devices were seized by border guards when he was returning to Canada at the Ottawa airport on Sept. 15. Ottawa police charged him with possession and importing child pornography on Sept. 25 after a forensic investigation found images that police say were of "concern."

In his testimony to the public inquiry, Earle said senior officials of the Christian Brothers at Mount Cashel - including Lahey while he was still a priest - were told about sex involving boys and brothers at the orphanage.

Earle said he told Lahey that he had seen a brother having sex with several boys and the priest told him he had recommended to a member of the order's executive council in Toronto that the brother be removed from the orphanage, which was run by the Roman Catholic lay order for decades.

Weeks after his conversation with Lahey, the brother left the orphanage, said Earle, whose allegations sparked the inquiry into Mount Cashel by retired Ontario judge Samuel Hughes.