A year after Canadian Catholic Bishops released their 1992 report on priest-child abuse, a Canadian bishop was busy hushing things up.
4 Archbishops and 2 Bishops had probably read what was hailed as a ground breaking report – From Pain to Hope. And men in power had read Bishop Joseph Windle’s 1993 letter to the Vatican suggesting that an abusive priest who had been shipped off to Rome not be given attention. Not because he abused kids, but because if attention was drawn to what he had done, more victims might come forward.
The reputation of the Roman Catholic Church came before those who had been harmed.
Mr. Prince received the title of Monsignor anyway while in Rome and in 2005 Ontario police investigated a victim’s complaint.
In 2008 Bernard Prince was convicted of molesting 13 boys between 1964 and 1984. He was defrocked last year.
The letter, written in 1993, focused on protecting the church’s image by preventing the scandal from becoming public – the very essence of an international wave of allegations now battering the Roman Catholic clergy and the Vatican.
“It is a situation which we wish to avoid at all costs,†the late Bishop Joseph Windle of Pembroke, Ont., wrote in Feb. 10, 1993, to the Pope’s envoy to Canada, Carlo Curis.
The man Bishop Windle was writing about was then-monsignor Bernard Prince, now 75, a friend of the late Pope John Paul II who had just been posted to the Vatican as a high-ranking official working with missionary societies.
Bishop Windle wanted Fr. Bernard Prince out of Canada.
He was pleased at the churches good fortune that victims and families had kept quiet.
Bishop Windle’s letter to the Canadian Papal  representative is here. (.pdf)
Canadians became aware of priest abuse in the 1980′s, and laws are in place which require citizens to report child abuse. Past cases of abuse are murkier under provincial laws, although there is no limitation, and failure to report (outside the confessional) can result in a fine. Most denominations require mandatory reporting from clergy.
In 1993 the Canadian Roman Catholic Church took full advantage of it’s position, power and legal loopholes.
In 2007 the Roman Catholic Bishops of Canada produced guidelines (diocesan protocols) for prevention of child abuse.
Page 85 of From Pain to Hope offers media guidelines for church officials. One sentence must leap out at every victim, every honest and caring Catholic in Canada, indeed for all of us watching abuse scandals  reach the highest levels of the RCC. “ Devious and evasive responses are destructive to the relationship between the Church and the media. They indicate lack of confidence in the Church’s ability to confront problems as well as immaturity in the spokesperson.”
The Globe and Mail was not able to get a comment from a representative of the Roman Catholic church regarding the late Bishop Windles letter.
Dear God, this letter was sent in 1993.  In Ontario  to date the RCC has given out a 40 million dollar compensation package to 1600 abuse survivors. 200 charges were laid by police, there were 15 convictions.
Newfoundland, British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Scotia…
Germany, Switzerland, the US, Austria, Netherlands…
Consistent systemic coverups continue.
Screening, education of student priests, accountability, reporting, Â isolation, power, attitude toward celebacy and sexuality are not being addressed.
Victims are blamed, media is blamed.
Another civil lawsuit has been launched this week in Canada by an alleged victim, Â against Bishop Raymond Lahey, who goes on trial next year on other charges. Lahey worked at Mount Cashel.
The archbishop’s office could not be reached for comment.
This letter from Bishop Windle makes me sick.
Windle died in 1997.
The current Bishop of Pembroke has  now made a statement.
Several hundred news outlets had to pick this story up before the current Bishop  responded.
Questions have been publicly dodged by the diocese leadership since March.
April 15, 2010
Re: Eganville Leader article
It is with outrage and disgust, that I read your recent article “The actions of a minority… destroy our faithâ€. As the sister of one of those boys abused and the friend of many of the others, you have no idea how difficult it is for me to read an article such as yours defending the Church. This article following on the release of Bishop Windle’s letter shows a thorough lack of understanding and empathy for what these victims (and their families) have gone through and continue to go through.
If, as you say, there are thousands and thousands of good priests suffering personal pain and anguish, I sympathize with them but may I remind you that are many, many family members, friends and acquaintances who are suffering because of these actions in a far more severe manner. Are you aware that some of these abused boys went on to become rapists? How many other lives were destroyed, indirectly, because of these priest’s actions? There are far more reaching effects and many more individuals harmed than the handful of boys who were brave enough to come forward, most definitely “thousands and thousandsâ€!
I agree that the Catholic Church has done many good things but so have many other people (for example Tiger Woods, Bill Clinton. Martha Stewart, Conrad Black), yet it only takes one transgression for a community to turn its’ back on you. I would have thought someone like you living in a small community would be intimately familiar with that scenario, such that it should not surprise you that the Church is being treated as it is.
Blaming the disease of pedophilia on the Catholic Church is not irresponsible, it is simply fact supported by much evidence. What other institution has as many incidents, as many members, as many stories regarding this perversion? None, the Catholic Church is unequalled when it comes to its’ affiliation with pedophiles. Why is that?
To compare pedophilia committed by priests to adultery committed by lay people is totally preposterous. Most adulterers are not committing illegal acts, immoral yes, but not illegal. Adulterers have not taken a vow of celibacy. Most adulterers do not spend their “working days†lecturing against what they themselves are doing in their leisure time.
Poor Mr. Miller who feels the Church is getting obnoxious PR—tough, get used to it, it is well deserved and far too late in my opinion. The agony Catholics are suffering because of a “small number of wayward priests†is not so much connected to the actions of these small numbers but connected to the actions of the large numbers and high positions of the priests who knew of these atrocities committed, yet stood by and did nothing because “there was little or no danger of any scandal ever emergingâ€. Anybody who feels proud to be Catholic right now is out of touch with reality.
Maybe all priests are not evil but there is evidence that many of the ones we thought were good, were not. Obviously, the Vatican is not the bastion of moral and upright individuals we previously thought it to be.
Yes, you are right that one bad cop or one bad Boy Scout does not make the whole group bad. But the scale and the participation and the collusion involved in this situation is unequalled. It is very rare when one policeman is bad, that all the other policemen around him are aware of it or that his superiors, right up to the very Top Cop are included in the cover-up. Usually one bad cop is not allowed to hide, let alone be promoted as Prince was.
I think perhaps, the one paragraph you wrote which resonated with me the most, was the paragraph in which you mention recalling the service provided by priests who you were acquainted with while growing up. Well, guess what, for me , those kindly priests visiting and teaching and confirming me, I now find were either directly involved in abusing these boys or knew about it and chose to do nothing for fear of “any scandal ever emergingâ€. Those same priests stood up on Sunday and told me to be good and follow the commandments—yet now I find out they were a huge bunch of hypocrites. How do you think that feels to me—to recall these hypocrites—I feel like vomiting!
You were very fortunate in that you grew up in a community of priests that you can feel good about but please consider those of us who didn’t and try to appreciate some of the sense of betrayal and shock we now feel. I am numb knowing what I know now. How could they? Those were little boys—this from a church which actively discourages homosexuality and takes such a great stand against sex out of marriage! How they could preach to us on Sunday yet be involved in such illicit activity has me questioning the entire institution. Why were these men not weeded out? How stupid were the people around them? Why did Bishop Windle, the Apostolic Pro-Nuncio, Cardinal Sanchez, Archbishop Ambrozic, the Barry’s Bay Deanery, Monsignor Barry, the Vicar General, Archbishop Spence, Archbishop Wilhelm, Archbishop Gervais, Bishop O’Mara, Bishop Tonnos, etc. not try to have Prince punished? Only ONE of them needed to do the right thing, but NONE of them did. Their only concern was to “remove him from the Canadian scene†and worry about “(embarrassment) to the Holy Seeâ€.
Thus, for you to say it was the “actions of a minority†is incorrect. That is like blaming bullying on a bunch of kids in the school yard, when the teachers, principals and Superintendants stood by and watched.
Keep the faith, but keep your eyes open as well. The basis of our faith has been rocked. I am not convinced the Catholic Church is a viable institution based on its’ past behaviour and obvious leadership deficiencies.
Thank you for listening and allow me to apologize for “ranting†but as a girl (who loved to swim) growing up in Wilno and wondering why only the boys were allowed to go to Fr. Prince’s cottage—it has been infuriating for me to find out what he was really up to. To view the pictures of Fr. Prince’s villa in Rome and Italian countryside home and his beautiful home in Florida (all with pools) and to know that at least one of the boys he abused now lives in a homeless shelter is very distressing. The Bishop knew and did nothing. Perhaps if those boys had been offered counselling and the situation dealt with instead of relying on their “respect for the priesthood†to stay quiet, many, many lives would have been greatly improved and certainly not as full as the suffering they have been.
I hope you will appreciate that for obvious reasons ( most importantly, the fact that my brother has not come forward and does not want to; rightly or wrongly he wants only to forget about this and bury these memories—his decision must be respected, he is owed that much) I am withholding my identity.
In my opinion the Catholic church’s self-interested and callous disregard for the victims of this abuse reminds me exactly of the same selfish and callous disregard of the perpetrators when they were in the act of destroying these young lives. Perhaps the reason the church feels it can’t afford to deal with this matter openly is that the institution would simply not have enough non-pedophile priests and heirarchy left to run things if they were to de-frock and prosecute all the pedophiles.
I know what you mean about feeling sick, “My name”, there is a lot going on in both Catholicism and her Protestant off-spring that makes me nauseated too. If we feel sick to our stomach, imagine how Jesus feels, who is about to spew out the apostate church(es) from his mouth. It’s my belief the reason so much is being publically exposed lately has to do with Him cleaning His house in both camps and it’s their last opportunity for self-examination and repentance. “Judgment begins with the house of the Lord.” I believe there are spiritual reasons why a Christian institution becomes a haven for sexual perversion and other sins, it doesn’t happen in a spiritual vacuum – they are not in possession of the pure gospel.
Well, that said, I would like to express my very sincere and heart-felt sympathies for what your brother and your whole family are going through. As someone who was molested as a child, (not by a priest) I understand and appreciate the harm that pedophilia does to a life. Your brother is blessed to have around him a supportive and loving family and I pray the Lord to redeem this situation and help you all to overcome – His comfort can be truly and deeply healing when we open up those hurts to Him with His help, and I do pray that for your brother and family.. thankfully we don’t need either priest or pastor to seek and find Jesus for ourselves through His word and His Spirit..knock and the door will be opened..
Those type priest are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They do nothing but cause deep hurt and much confusion in innocent little lives. Those who choose to help cover up these wolves are not any better or may be worse than these pedafile’s.
If anyone see’s this or even suspect’s this type of behavior anywhere, they need to step forward and confront these pedafile’s, for the fact of who they really are and what they really do!
Law’s should be inforced that rout out the injustice of covering up such a crime that causes much injury. Not one person should feel like they can’t come forward and report this injustice, for any reason. Protecting the young heart and mind are first and foremost!
@Susan
“If anyone see’s this or even suspect’s this type of behavior anywhere, they need to step forward and confront these pedafile’s, for the fact of who they really are and what they really do! ”
If I may, I don’t think confrontation is the answer here. Criminal charges, yes, but confrontation doesn’t work. That’s been proven over the last 2000 years.
These people are criminals and should not be treated or approached as anything less.
Personally, this time, I will admit that the Bible does have a solution for this, found in Matthew 19:12 “and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men”.
Castrate them all… Then throw them in jail!
Confrontation in any sense of the word that will bring these type behaviors in check will please me. I don’t mean to imply face to face confrontation. I mearly ment in generality of the law. Hope this clears it up.
I think you make a good point here Susan:
“Law’s should be inforced that rout out the injustice of covering up such a crime that causes much injury. Not one person should feel like they can’t come forward and report this injustice, for any reason. Protecting the young heart and mind are first and foremost!”
Seems to me it’s a crime to cover up a crime and there should be investigation and prosecution of those who swept these acts under the rug instead of reporting them to the police.
I don’t think this kind of thing is anything new
This sort of thing seems to have been going on for some time now and eventually something could blow.
I’ve lived in the Commercial Drive area of Vancouver for 18 years now on the North side of the Grandview Highway in Grandview Woodlands
On the South side of the Grandview Highway and the Grandview cut is called Cedar Cottage
There is Our Lady of Fatima Portuguese Catholic Parish
The Mission was opened in the 1950s for Portuguese who mainly came from the Azores Islands
I’m partly Portuguese and that side of my family was all Roman Catholic from the former colony of Macau between Hong Kong and Vietnam.
I am not a Roman Catholic but partly feel attracted to it and the Portuguese culture because it is part of my roots that are deep down inside of me.
Being around that sort of thing brings a different side out of me from deep down inside that does not always seem to come out of me in mainstream Canadian society.
I just about became a Roman Catholic liking the feeling of balance and stability I sensed within the structure of the Roman Catholic Church.
I met a very nice Priest seemed very well trained as I felt a fair number of Roman Catholic Priests I met seemed very well trained too.
Him and his father were Anglican like me and converted to the Roman Catholic Church.
The Priests will spend a lot of time talking with me never short handed and I find this very nice.
On wanting to become a Roman Catholic I became depressed and decided not to go any further with this.
The Priest was very nice about it.
Then, I saw him on the TV News being taken into a Police car because he done something at Williams Lake.
This was around 1984 or so.
Fr McItee had been a alcoholic and took a year off from the Priesthood as a florist.
He got into the Priesthood again and was the head of Alcoholics Anonymous for Vancouver British Columbia
He was an Oblate Father at St Augustine’s Catholic Church on W8th & Maple St
A very nice person I met at Holy Name Roman Catholic Church on Cambie & W41st St when I was taking the ‘Life in the Spirit Seminar’ is the Charismatic Renewal, which seemed very well run, visited Fr McItee in Jail.
Anyways, some of the Portuguese Roman Catholics tell me about pedophile Priests who get involved with a young boy who assists in the Mass as a server.
So, what they tell me then, is that the Priest just gets sent to another Parish
It’s all hush hush cover it up sort of thing
So, this is how this sort of thing is dealt with in the accountablility and commitment department
This avoids having to deal with the restructuring of the upper government of the Roman Catholic Church.
What things?
Perhaps allowing Priests to marry if they would like to do so.
Perhaps, some Priests might function better in Marriage?
I was raised in Catholicism too, John, I know what you mean about being drawn to it, but i believe it’s a false comfort being offered. I wonder if the celibacy rule attracts those to the priesthood who don’t really want to marry anyway because of their pre-existing sexual problems. There may be those who want to serve God in a pastoral role but who aren’t called to be celibate and therefore don’t have the grace that is needed for that kind of life-long self-denial.
But I believe also the roots of the problem go deeper – for one thing, priests are obligated to have an allegiance to an institution which over-rules and limits their freedom to obey and serve Jesus Christ Himself, and hinders their ability to receive from Him His life-transforming power and word. Another huge problem that I see is that Catholicism has been mixed with paganism ever since its inception, and of course paganism is associated with all kinds of regrettable behaviour, including ritual sexual sin. A gospel infused with divided loyalties (itself a form of idolatry) and paganism is devoid of power over sin. These are at least some of the problems I believe Catholics need to be willing to address if they truly want to tackle the roots of this sad and tragic problem of sexual transgression in their ranks. They need to de-form (de-institutionalize) and hand the power and authority back to the Holy Spirit who is without form. Without Him we can do nothing. I’m not holding my breath however, because without a pure gospel who is even likely going to be willing to lay down their power, prestige and position en masse in the church to become simple humble lowly servants like Jesus was, and bear His reproach.
Therese:THANK YOU SO MUCH! You have no idea how powerful your words of kindness were for me. I started to cry reading such wonderful understanding from a stranger. It was enlightening for me to read your thoughts and I think you are absolutely right, that part of the Catholic church’s problems may stem from its’ pagan roots–I had not made that connection before.
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciated your reply. This has been very difficult for me, for my family, because of course, once you have been baptized and schooled a Catholic, it is very difficult to deal with this betrayal, especially at the level involved (ie. Papal Nuncio). You are absolutely correct in saying that Catholics need to “de-form”. At this point, I think that is their only hope in bringing back disillusioned Catholics like myself.
But I have to wonder if they even care? I certainly see no evidence of that. Thanks again for providing your support to my remarks. It is helping me to heal. Maybe that is the good that comes out of this bad…
I’m very glad to hear you were blessed, “My name” – it’s wonderful how the Lord knows what we need to hear, just recently He ministered to me in a similar way through an e-mail someone sent me – nothing particularly special in the words themselves, but definitely something special about the Holy Spirit who flew them right into my heart! Somehow it was just what I needed to hear as well. I pray He will continue to bless and encourage you in your life! A big cyber-hug from me to you and your brother.. so comforting to know there is a God who cares and loves us and knows the battle appointed to each one of us..