London diocese must list accused clergy, abuse victim urges
A Windsor abuse survivor charged Tuesday that the London diocese’s reconciliation attempts, after decades of misconduct by predator priests, are insincere if it won’t publish the names of “credibly accused” clergy.
Brenda Brunelle said she emailed a letter to Bishop Ronald Fabbro early last week asking him to “do the right thing ” and release the names of accused and convicted priests. She has not heard a response.
Four days after she sent her email, the Archdiocese of Vancouver, in a Canadian first, published the names of abuser priests in its ranks going back six decades.
“What’s very insulting is Ronald Fabbro is known publicly as the guy that has great empathy and strong desire to get a handle on this crisis,” said Brunelle, head of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) for Southwestern Ontario. “He speaks very polished words and certainly inspires hope to the faithful. But what’s actually happening is his actions are not marrying up with his words.”
Brunelle wants the diocese to publish a list of priests credibly accused of abuse including those charged or convicted, and anyone the church has paid out settlements for in civil cases.
Officials with the Catholic Diocese of London would not agree to an interview. They sent an email stating “sexual abuse is a horrendous crime that has caused terrible suffering,” and “our sympathies and prayers are with survivors.”
The diocese did not commit to publishing a list of accused priests.
“We acknowledge that there is much controversy about whether to publish the names of priests named in historic cases (e.g., the 1950s and 1960s),” the diocese said. “While the names of criminally convicted abusers are already in the public domain, there are some instances when accusations were made and guilt was presumed, but there were no legal proceedings. In such a case, as the Vancouver report notes, Canadian privacy law prevents us from naming the accused. Moreover, we have heard directly from some victims who would rather not see these names in the press.”
On Friday, the Archdiocese of Vancouver released a list of nine abuser priests going back to the 1950s. Five of the priests were criminally convicted, two had settled lawsuits, and two were involved in “public cases.” The archdiocese said it did not reveal the names of other credibly accused priests who “have not been convicted, but of whose guilt we are morally certain,” citing privacy laws.
That move was followed Monday with the Archdiocese of Montreal announcing it enlisted a former judge to do an independent investigation into how the church handled complaints about a pedophile priest. Brian Boucher, convicted last January of sexually abusing minors, was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Results of that probe, led by former Superior Court Justice Pepita G. Capriolo, will be made public.
“We want to get to the bottom of things to uncover the truth regarding how the concerns and complaints about Brian Boucher were received and handled,” Archbishop Christian Lépine said in a statement posted on the Montreal Archdiocese website. “Ms. Capriolo’s mandate is twofold: first, determining ‘who’ knew ‘what’ and ‘when,’ and then making recommendations to ensure that our policies and procedures improve, thereby avoiding that such crimes would occur again.”
Brunelle, who settled a lawsuit in 2012 stemming from her abuse at the hands of Rev. Michael Fallona in Windsor, said she and other survivors in Southwestern Ontario want the London diocese to take similar steps. “We want the church to say don’t come to us with your issues,” she said. “Report it to the police so that it can be properly and thoroughly investigated.
“That’s accountability. That’s showing that the church is truly looking at ending this crisis or at least trying to get a handle on it. Hire an independent body to investigate the files, go through them and put an end to this.”
In its email, diocese officials asked anyone victimized by a priest to report it to the church’s director of Safe Environment Services.
Brunelle said the church’s talk of healing and reconciliation is meaningless. “For me, the biggest betrayal is exactly that,” she said. “What Fallona did to me was a shame, a crime and unfortunate. But the biggest criminal is the institution who continues to protect their brand, cover this up, and not release these names.”