In shedding light on St. Joseph's Parish, Ottawa, Vox Cantoris uncovers that one Fr. Ed MacNeil, OMI, a convicted child molester, is listed in the parish directory. (Also addressed here.)
Apparently, he's allowed to minister because he's "paid the price".
I understand that, once upon a time, child abuse was something very secretive, and then in the 1980s the tendency was to treat it as a mental health issue, not a crime.
That was then, this is now.
We need to know that our children are safe.
The rule should be: one strike, and you're out.
I'm glad to hear that Fr. Ed MacNeil's faculties to say Mass have been revoked in the Archdiocese of Ottawa since 2010. But he's still appears to be operating in the Parish.
If you note the copyright date on the Parish Website, it says "2011". So even after his faculties were revoked, he's still listed as active in that parish.
I understand that the Archbishop does not have jurisdiction over Oblates when they act on their own property.
So my question: who is this person's superior, and why has he allowed a convicted child molester to continue in ministry?
I don't care if you're ministering to little old nuns or sick people. Ministry should not be exercised by convicted child molesters.
What message are we sending to the victims when we allow convicted pedophiles back into ministry?
The standard should be: one strike and you're out.
We have completely lost the sense of sin. Hey, he touched a kid, so what's the big deal?
A lot of people talk about the responsibility of the bishops when it comes to child sex abuse.
What about the responsibility of the religious orders.
I find it ironic that one of the values that the Oblates try to promote is reconciliation with the Natives because of their role in cultural ethnic cleansing.
Allowing a child molester to continue ministry doesn't promote reconciliation.
My suggestion to anyone in the Archdiocese of Ottawa reading this: get a list of all the priests active in your diocese, and do a police check on them. You might as well know now rather than later. If you know now, you can do the honourable thing and terminate their priestly faculties. Don't wait.
