Three priests named in sexual abuse cases

Archdiocese identifies deceased men in new report on historical cases

The Archdiocese of Vancouver has named another three priests who sexually abused minors.

All three men — John Edward Kilty, Johannes Holzapfel and Armand Frechette — served in at least one parish in the Archdiocese of Vancouver between the mid-1940s and early 1980s, and all three are now dead.

The men were identified in a followup report about historical cases of clergy sexual abuse in the archdiocese, published this week.

The original report, published in 2019 after a review of Vancouver church files, revealed 26 cases of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests against minors and named nine priests, including five who were criminally convicted, two who settled lawsuits and two “public cases.”

At that time, the names and details of 17 additional priests who were “credibly accused,” but not charged with abuse, were kept confidential.

The three priests named this week were part of financial settlements.

The followup report also noted 13 previously unknown victims have come forward since the 2019 report.

In the case of Kilty, who served in five different parishes between 1945 and 1983, two new allegations have been made since 2019, in addition to three allegations made in the years following his death in 1983.

Holzapfel, who was originally from Germany and served in nine parishes, died in 1997. Shortly after, the archdiocese received an allegation of physical and sexual abuse of a minor.

Frechette, who died in 1971, was the subject of an allegation in 1999. A new allegation was made earlier this year. “The abuse of the then nine- or 10-year-old boy was believed to have occurred in the mid1950s,” according to the report.

The report said the archdiocese has heard from people who think “we should speak less about this issue because it may seem that it feeds into an `anti-faith' narrative,” while others, including some victims, think “we are still not doing enough to address the issue and they remind us that recent and future cases may yet come to light.”

The report said transparency would help the church care for victims, while increasing safety within parishes: “Catholics are called to accept the hard truth of clerical sexual abuse.”

The numbers were made public last year — a first for a Catholic diocese in Canada — after the Archdiocese of Vancouver appointed a committee to address what it called “the worldwide crisis” of sexual abuse by priests.

This week's followup report provided an update on progress made toward implementing 31 recommendations made by the committee, ranging from removing memorials to abusive priests to hiring several women in leadership positions.

In a statement, Archbishop J. Michael Miller acknowledged the “deep suffering of the victims and their loved ones,” adding he “apologize(s) to each of them for the trauma caused by the abuse by a priest.”