A central claim of the ritualization of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church is the transubstantiation or the creation of ordinary church bread into the body and flesh of a Jewish purported Messiah who allegedly died over 2,000 years ago.
Fundamentally, scientifically, empirically, this claim holds no – ahem – substance; thus, the centralization of this claim in the faith is a failure of both imagination and evidence, so as to render a large portion of the Canadian population engaging in mass benign delusional fantasies.
Those who attend Mass and take a hardline approach, or a sincerely serious belief in the transubstantiation. Behind these beautiful rituals, loving and transcendentalist words and religious poetry, scents, tastes, and sentiments and sentimentalities celebrating the life of a person deemed a God-man, there sits a rather large criminal sexual history.
Crimes of the flesh of the priesthood against the flesh of the young. It comes routinely in the written news record.
Recently, there has been another claim, so an allegation, by a former student who went to a Vancouver Catholic school. They claim a teacher in the 1980s abused him. The teacher was sent to another school in the West Coast based on a confession of preying on boys at an infamous Newfoundland orphanage.
Darren Liptrot has a proposed class action suit filed last Monday in the B.C. Supreme Court. Liptrot claimed his abuser and five others were transferred across the country (as abusers). The claim is being moved from Mount Cashel facility, in Newfoundland and Labrador, to his high school, Vancouver College and St. Thomas More Collegiate (1976-1983).
On the basis of a possible certification of the class action lawsuit, the head of the defunct Christian Brothers and the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corp. of St. Johns could be held liable to sexual abuse charges.
The alleged abuser of Liptrot is Edward English, is former vice-principal, John Kavalec, the Catholic Independent Schools of Vancouver Archdiocese, and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vancouver. These are huge names and ma have devastating consequences.
Apparently, the corporations who own and run the two high schools are currently being sued, too. Joe Fiorante, Liptrot’s lawyer, speaking on behalf of Liptrot reflected on the fact of the Christian Brothers, the Catholic school system, and the hierarchs of the Catholic Church knew about the pedophilia and still did nothing to protect the students.
The Supreme Court of Canada refused a recent attempt – in January – by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s to appeal the ruling finding the church liable for sexual abuse at Mount Cashel orphanage. Often, the theology speaks in strong tones about justice.
They don’t want justice; they don’t even want to mete out forgiveness. They want to weasel out of trouble, simple as that. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s is financially liable for the abuse.
Indeed, I have heard claims of individuals thinking the Roman Catholic Church is under attack in this country. Quite the opposite, this country’s citizens and the land’s native inhabitants have been under attack by the Roman Catholic Church for a long time.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s claimed no ownership of the emotional devastation at Mount Cashel orphanage or the Christian Brothers who ran it. Purportedly, Peter Hundt, the Archbishop of St. John’s, became aware of the lawsuit only recently.
Melissa Godbout who is a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Vancouver, expressed regret and sadness for those who may have suffered sexual abuse from a person in power. Godbout questioned being mentioned in the suit, as they neither own nor operate the school.
This has been a story rippling across Catholics in the country for years now. It seems, as the Catholic Church continues to bleed members, some of the darker truths are coming out now. Expression of sadness and grief may ring hollow to a large number of people who come from these religious organizations and backgrounds.
These are not isolated events, but international phenomena. The Archdiocese of Vancouver is dealing with its own class action lawsuit against them, too.
As in recent reportage, the Archdiocese of Vancouver has been alleged to cover-up decades of various abuse by members of the clergy. No allegations have been set forth as definitive within a court of law.
A certification by a judge of the class-action lawsuit would mean plaintiff representation of claimants to physical and sexual abuse by clergy between 1976 and 1995. Students from Vancouver College and St. Thomas More Collegiate are making the allegations.
The Christian Brothers ran Vancouver College and St. Thomas More Collegiate. While, they finished operations in Canada in the middle of the ‘90s due to paying compensation to individuals physically and sexually abused by them. Those who entrusted with their care.
Apparently, Vancouver College and St. Thomas More Collegiate reached an agreeable deal with a liquidator.
As for Liptrot, who is 53, he claims his life was derailed after claiming or making allegations of physical and sexual abuse in grades 9 and 10 by a Mr. English of Vancouver College. He had dreams be a lawyer in high school.
However, he claims use of alcohol and cannabis, heavily, after the abuse, which led to a path of addiction. He sought treatment in 2006.
Now, in 1991, Mr English received 13 charges of assault causing bodily harm, gross indecency, and indecent assault, for which he received 12 years in jail. Liptrot learned Mr. English was not in jail circa 2014. At this point, he decided to go after him.
Apparently, 2007 was when a former British Columbia student sued Mr. English, as well as the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver, and the Christian Brothers. Fiorante states this case, as many others, was settled out of court.
With files from CBC News.
Photo by Brayden Law on Unsplash