The priest's confession: What the Catholic bishops knew - The Fifth Estate

the following program may contain violence and scenes disturbing to some viewers viewer discretion is advised authorities are investigating at least five bishops in what has been called a major cover-up of decades of child abuse in our criminal justice system in Canada we're just clearing the street level offenders the priests were not going higher I ran to the bathroom and locked myself in I said myself my gosh what's happening he was consistent he was an accomplice this is the kernel Enterprise why is it that it's the victims who have to hold the church accountable why is it up to them [Music] [Applause] I wish to inform you of the circumstances regarding the multiple charges of sexual assault over a period of twenty years I was a priest in many parishes of the Diocese of Shakuni my victims were female minors in 2015 an aging priest Paul Andre Harvey is made to pay for his crimes a priest from the Shakuni diocese has been sentenced to six years in prison for indecent assault and gross indecency he pleads guilty to 39 charges the average age of his victims all girls aged between 8 to 10 years old behind bars Harvey does something extraordinary he summons the prison lawyer he wants to make a detailed confession we said fess electical solicita father Harvey claimed his superiors not only knew of his serial child abuse but they covered up his crimes by city to notice oh my face stuffy but if the higher-ups knew as he claims why wasn't anyone else charged in his case more than that why is it we can't find one case anywhere in Canada where a church superior has been charged in connection to crimes committed by abusive priests there just isn't a culture in our criminal justice system in Canada to look that one level up you know we've got it when it comes to drug dealers we're not just clearing the street level we're going higher but we don't get it when it comes to the sex offenders we're just clearing the street level offenders the priests we're not going higher I was in a working-class community during a time when priests were warmly welcomed wherever they went I felt like a star among children especially the girls 50 years ago in Quebec because one of the most religiously observant societies in the Western world from birth to death marriage the important elements of your life all go through the church and the priest is like a feudal lord walking among the peasants Bruce Johnston is leading a class-action lawsuit on behalf of more than 100 women who say they're victims of father Harvey before Harvey died in prison in 2018 he handed his sworn confession to Johnston to bolster his case against the diocese why was it important for him and why is it important in general to say that the the bishops knew the superiors knew why is it important to establish that and get that on the record because the the the bishops are really the embodiment of the authority of the church and it's the authority of the church which determines how these situations will be dealt with and so when you have an institution which is organizing a cover-up it's very important that that be known and you see this as a cover-up absolutely tucked away in rural Quebec Shakuni was an ideal place for a young priest to follow his calling but less than a year into his posting Paul Andre Harvey knew he had a problem my bishop called me to his office after a complaint had been filed I told him about my problems and admitted to him my need to get help he only recommended that I be more careful around children and to pray more the bishop was Marius ba Hey and according to Harvey's confession ba hey solution to his problem quietly moved farther Harvey to a new parish [Music] yakimaneeshin fat Americans oh the tears another publisher catherine's pants she named SP the nephron Esther's new piace back in 1965 Suzanne Tremblay was 7 years old when she says father Harvey asked her to meet him alone at their church seem wet today one look at that little girl brings her back to a bad place in her life Susie gal did it for two puskesmas you'll never buzzword rheya vaidhi-bhakti Christmas October so legs amputated or superior camasta EVP assertive about this man Bobby John Gardella questions select exists now jobs we Victorian Association movie asthma start any movie Oscar when Suzanne told her parents her story she says she was summoned to meet Bishop paje in his office in Minami Pomona PD met wasn't what are you Spock not fact listen unlike my scenario he said okay come on SAP hourly pizza pockets or I can stay my song but it's just [ __ ] out that I can t see now something [Music] Suzanne's mother then demanded her own meeting with the diocese yeah Palermo yes ot a Grand Canyon while having a cool dude but I felt like okay love I appear clear that Totsuka seconds that capillary pods too much man said before at la première fuller cannot doubt that probably not long after the complaints father Harvey was moved yet again to a new parish it sat silent shuffle as I call it the moving the priest a short distance to another parish Rob talaq has brought more than 400 cases against the Catholic Church he's nicknamed Canada's priest hunter it's almost like they taught it at bishop school you know the mo seems to be the complaint comes in either directly from the victim or usually their parents the bishop are a senior ranking official speaks to the family says trust us we'll take care of it some went to the bishop and and we know from the records today that some went to the police but the authority of the church at the time extended even to the police because the police felt that if a priest was involved it's not a matter for the police it's a matter for the bishop according to Harvey's confession between 1965 and 1981 he was questioned by four different police departments in the region all acting on complaints from parents the police didn't charge me they simply told me not to reoffended from their generosity years later the diocese would state it knew nothing about any problems with their priests however records show between 1963 in 2002 father Harvey was moved to a new parish 12 times all approved by the Bishop of the day whenever he would receive another complaint he would reassign me to another parish thinking that it would resolve my emotional problems it was to no avail after a few days I would reoffending the position that they knew nothing that there were no written records whatsoever do you believe that to be true I'm certain that's not true so under canon law every diocese must have secret archives and only the bishop has the keys to the secret archives we got to examine one of the bishops who was in authority while father Harvey was making victims bishop this is bishop couture yes in 1979 Jean ikutsu was brought in as the new Bishop of Shu ku to me [Music] he was father Harvey's boss for the next 23 years in 2017 as part of his class-action suit against the shokudo me diocese Johnson cross-examined Kazu who had since retired he confirmed there were indeed secret archives here's what he said so we asked him there are secret archives are there not and he says yes there are I asked him so what is in them and he said I don't know I never looked do you believe it no I don't know I'm quite certain that's not true what do you believe is in those secret archives with in relation to the case of father Harvey well if there were any written communications by parents any written communications by the police any reports about any investigations they would have held they would be in the secret archives and yet after a police investigation we know no charges were laid against any church officials in connection to father Harvey's crimes my practice is an indictment of the failure of the criminal justice system I mean we're doing the heavy lifting along with our clients at their cost to what the state's other wise be doing Rob talaq says because the crown hasn't laid any criminal charges he goes to civil court to fight for the victims the people of this province and the people of this particular diocese wants to know what went on wants to know how deep the rot was or is he's 150 million dollars in settlements holding the church accountable for their abusive priests they facilitate the perpetrator they magnify their their effect the completely the opposite of what a moral institution like the church should do so absolutely their crimes it's alleged Monsignor William Lin buried complaint after complaint of sexually abusive priests Philadelphia grand jury investigations unearthed a pattern of cover-up at the highest reaches of the Archdiocese this is a criminal enterprise so I wanted to uncover it we did find one case where someone took aim at the hierarchy of the church you call it a cover-up and a church called it unfair yeah but that didn't dissuade you no nothing just were you me these are guys are no good these are bad guys Lynne Abraham was Philadelphia scrappy district attorney for 19 years I'm a very strong individual and things bother me my conscience I have a people have likened my conscience to a true north pole star it's it just doesn't move and when things bother me I have to find out why they bother me the sex abuse scandal that's rock the Catholic Church took a new turn today what was bothering Abraham were reports of widespread clergy abuse that were coming out of Boston Bernhard Cardinal law has resigned it's alleged hundreds of children were sexually abused by priests well law either looked the other way or shuffled pedophile priests from one unsuspecting Church to another I said to myself well if it happened in Boston can Philadelphia with its very large or very strong Archdiocese and Catholic population how could we have been missed no priests guilty of even one act of sexual abuse of a minor will function in any ecclesial ministry or any capacity in our diocese the church hierarchy in Philadelphia tried to get out in front of any scandal revealing its secret archives identified 35 abusive priests in the Archdiocese I said look we're going to do a grand jury investigation of abuse in the church and we can do it two ways the best thing for the church to do is say here are all our secret archives we only have 35 cases that's all we have here all of our records go through them and that'll be an end to it or you can resist us and you know we'll we'll just take it as it goes so they said well we're not going to give it to you when we come back the DA goes after the Cardinal we were the first ever to haul the cardinal took in front of a grand jury while in Canada victims are left to fight the church power on their own the church knew about it they let other children being abused NORs for that I have no words for that the following program may contain violence and scenes disturbing to some viewers viewer discretion is advised channel 10 continues its special coverage of the elevation of Anthony Bevilaqua to Cardinal of Philadelphia it was a proud moment for Philadelphia's Catholic community more than 1 million strong the moment when Philadelphia's Archbishop became Anthony Cardinal Bevilaqua Prince of the church how powerful is the Catholic Church in this town we've always had very powerful very strong leaders he had Cardinal Bevilaqua who was outgoing smart as a whip these leaders what their word was was law Lynn Abraham's grand jury investigation spanning five years would eventually reveal 125 cases of abusive priests we saw a records signed by the Cardinal himself transferring this priest and we saw records about allegations of priests sex abuse was all in their records they had great archives now the fact that they lied to us about the existence of these archives even though we had court-ordered subpoenas and they swore they had turned over everything I mean they live from the minute you can say hello Abraham wanted to go after the leadership of the church or as she saw them they're enablers our investigation named names for the first time ever an accused Cardinal Bevilaqua whom we brought in under subpoena to testify in front of the grand jury first time that has ever happened I think in the country I know at the time you had an interest in dating Cardinal Bevilaqua certainly did why because he was guilty of engaging in the kind of crimes of covering up child abuse he knew about it and covered it up he was consistent he was an accomplice Cardinal Bevilaqua died before he faced any criminal charges here's what we know in a report released just moments ago the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilaqua is named as an abuser years after his death victims came forward to allege he didn't just cover up abusers he was an abuser [Music] in Quebec there was no Crusader questioning why the diocese kept shuffling pedophile priests Paul Andre Harvey from church to church this is me and it was in the same time yeah in fifth grade I was always at the church every Sunday with him because I was helping him with the math so probably he thought I was a good victim for him I don't know in 1978 Ellen Ashe remembers Father Harvey would come to her home every week to have coffee with her parents he had been transferred to her town his 3rd parish in two years most of the sexual assaults took place in the victims homes when I knew the parents would be out I would show up unexpectedly so we were all alone and he asked me do you want to sit on my lap okay I'm 10 so he's a good guy and we know him so I went on his lap and then okay he hugged me and I felt I'm comfortable but still but then I felt his mouth going through my neck I remember it like it was yesterday and I felt his hands going down I said myself my gosh what's happening it was eternal for me and then there the phone rang it was my mom so I took the phone I was oh gosh and my mom said are you okay I said no mom come come back it's not okay and as soon as I hung up the phone I am ran to the bathroom and locked myself in my mom told me that when she and my father came back he wasn't there as parish priest father Harvey was also the priest at Ellen's school so the next morning I went to the principal of my school and told her everything and then the first thing I knew he was not working there anymore there was never any follow-up to the complaints that's a big reason why there were so many deviant acts for so long I think some judicial reprimands would have put a stop to my sexual abuse we contacted the shokudo me diocese for an interview about father Harvey but they declined in a statement the diocese writes we have worked together with the saguenay police in their criminal investigation nothing was hidden or withheld everything the diocese found in its files was handed over to investigators I think that the church still benefits from a level of deference from all types of civil authorities even today to call to account a bishop in the Criminal Courts requires a slight paradigm shift among the people who are have the authority to take those proceedings in Quebec alone our colleagues at the program on ket have compiled a list of 25 class action suits involving some 200 abusive clergy members and 3,000 alleged victims but not one charge against anyone in the church hierarchy Quebec justice minister declined an interview to explain why her department has never pressed charges against Church superiors and she has refused calls for a public inquiry into abusive priests Sunday a pitiful person amazement monopolization lucas explained no class o le cose most prefer con esta cava issue distress no Paredes Tomasulo is their dinner see it is a companion why is it that it's the victims who have to go out to hold the church in this case the diocese accountable why is it up to them well perhaps it shouldn't be I think the lack of accountability detracts from people's confidence in the rule of law because you see people getting away with it said well well there is no justice and and that bothers that bothers the victims and it bothers me [Music] the church new so they have at least responsibility to to recognize it what needs to be done now it's a big question yeah it has to stop we're talking about the church but it has to stop everywhere victims need to be heard they need to be lived believed yeah that's why me to came out and it has to stop if you know it at least stop it so that's what I was asking to the church recognize it and stop it and don't let anyone else continue to abuse [Music] [Music] you

Channel: The Fifth Estate

Views: 765,483

Keywords: Roman Catholic, Catholic Church, bishops, priests, clergy, Quebec, Chicoutimi, diocese of Chicoutimi, Saguenay, diocese, archdiocese, CBC, CBC News, The Fifth Estate, Enquete, Radio-Canada

Id: IX-rDwCsUCU

Length: 23min 1sec (1381 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 17 2020