Group seeks federal probe of Church abuse

Catholic Register – November 15, 2023


A new national, non-religious coalition called Outrage Canada seeks a federal investigation to hold the Catholic Church accountable both for historic and current sexual abuse crimes against children. Irene Deschenes is on Outrage Canada’s board of directors, which launched a new website (outragecanada.ca) Nov. 2. She was one of the victims of Fr. Charles Sylvestre, convicted in 2006 for sexually abusing 47 young girls between the 1950s and 1980s. Deschenes endured two years of abuse while she attended St. Ursula Catholic School in Chatham, Ont., in the early 1970s.

For parts of three decades, Deschenes has litigated against the Diocese of London after first reporting her abuse at the hands of Sylvestre in 1992, and in 1996 filing a civil suit settled in 2000. It was reopened after police reports about Sylvestre dating back to 1962 were uncovered in a diocese filing cabinet.

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Class-Action Lawsuit Over Abuse At Metro Vancouver Schools Settled For $30M

By Patricia Grell • August 9, 2026
CTV News - August 1, 2026 Vancouver, BC - The B.C. Supreme Court has approved a $30-million settlement for a class-action lawsuit involving historical claims of physical, psychological and sexual abuse at Vancouver College and St. Thomas More Collegiate. More than 200 former students joined the lawsuit, which alleged that some abusive Christian Brothers had been transferred from the Mount Cashel orphanage in Newfoundland. The alleged abuse occurred between the 1970s and 2013 and caused lasting emotional, relationship, and substance-abuse problems for many victims. Although most class members supported the settlement, some criticized the defendants for a lack of accountability, while several chose to pursue individual lawsuits instead.

Settlement Reached In Priest Sex-Abuse Lawsuit

By Patricia Grell • August 9, 2026
Bishop Accountability - July 7, 2026 Winnipeg, AL - A Winnipeg man in his mid-40s has settled a lawsuit alleging that he was sexually abused by two Catholic priests when he was 10 or 11 years old in 1990–91. The alleged abuse occurred while he was a student at St. Jean Baptiste Elementary School and a member of the local Catholic church. The lawsuit, filed in 2023, involved the Archdiocese of St. Boniface, the Red River Valley School Division and the estate of priest Léo Couture. The other priest, René Touchette, had previously been convicted of sexual offences in the 1990s and died in 2012. The settlement details have not been released, and none of the defendants admitted liability. The case was scheduled for trial in November 2027, but those proceedings will now be cancelled because of the settlement.
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