Clergy sex abuse is an epidemic that needs to stop.
Some of the first widely-known cases of child sexual abuse by clergy in the world took place at the Mount Cashel Boys Home in Newfoundland during the 1980s. Soon after, allegations began appearing against various clergy members throughout the country, many of which included instances of the accused priests being placed back into service, even though officials were aware of the abuse allegations.
Since then, there have been cases involving hundreds of children abused by clergy where church officials were accused of systematically covering up the abuse. In 2015, The Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that “from the nineteenth century onwards, the government and churches were well aware of the risk that staff might sexually abuse residential school students.”
This is only the beginning of the wave of healing that can only take place when survivors of this horrific abuse are empowered to speak out.