Author and attorney Gemma Hickey calls for action and expresses her frustration over the recent revelation that a Christian brother convicted of child abuse at the Mount Cashel Orphanage ended up in Illinois where he was the subject of similar investigations.
We demand zero tolerance. Stop mixing predators from one place to another,” says Hickey. “We’ve seen it here and we’ve seen it in other parts of the world, and it’s clearly wrong. »
According to the CBC, Ronald Leszek, who remained a member of the Irish Christian Fellowship until his death in 2020, is among a number of people named in the ongoing investigation into church-related abuse in the United States.
Hickey, who had been a staunch advocate for those who had been subjected to clerical abuse, was not surprised by the latest revelations.
“As awful as it sounds, I’m not surprised. We’re used to seeing this. It’s a direct step out of the Catholic Church’s playbook,” says Hickey, citing the example of the two former Mount Cashel brothers who are now facing charges in British Columbia.
“It is frustrating and disturbing. We hold the Church responsible so that this type of situation does not continue.”
