Rowland Croucher <> posted the following, which was written by Andrew Sullivan:

> As for a frank discussion of sexual morality, celibacy, women priests or

> homosexuality, it’s not likely to happen anytime soon. The usual

diversions > designed to avoid these subjects were thrown about with abandon. This is a

> purely American problem, some church spokesmen argued, as if scandals

weren’ > t exploding elsewhere: an ABC News report charged the Vatican itself with

> covering up abuse claims against a priest previously praised by the Pope.

I can assure readers of this list that this is not a problem only of the American Church. A new flurry of allegations from alleged victims, both male and female, major and minor, have begun here north of the Canada/U.S. border.

Nor is the problem confined to the Roman Catholic Church. Four major Canadian denominations are involved in literally thousands of court cases here in Canada regarding the legacy of physical and sexual abuse which occurred over many decades in Church-run residential schools for aboriginal students — and in many cases where abuse has been confirmed, the usual pattern of covering up, transferring errant clergy, and paying hush money to victims have been laid bare. My own denomination, the Anglican Church of Canada, is threatened with bancruptcy due to these court costs and penalties. The United Church of Canada, the Presbyterian Church of Canada, as well as many Roman Catholic religious orders are also implicated.

The pattern is distressingly similar. The Church has far too long tried to silence any discussion of sexuality other than its “orthodox” position — sexual abstinence outside the bounds of matrimony. For many decades domestic violence, marriage breakdown and divorce were considered “out of bounds”. Today there is no frank discussion about homosexuality, nor of premarital sexual activity, despite the prevalence of both, and a high degree of acceptance of such activities in civil society. This kind of silencing leads those who do not conform to secrecy and silence; and it is in those dark and secretive places where abusive activity is most likely to occur. Our churches, in a futile attempt to avoid “scandal”, are indirect enablers of such truly scandalous activities.

Ron Chaplin Ottawa