The Catholic Church in Canada, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, and has a decentralised structure, meaning each diocesan bishop is autonomous but under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. As of 2021, it has the largest number of adherents to a Christian denomination and a religion in Canada, with 29.4% of Canadians being adherents according to the census in 2021. There are 73 dioceses and about 7,000 priests in Canada. On a normal Sunday, between 15 and 25 percent of Canada's Catholics attend Mass.
The Archdiocese of Denver is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in northern Colorado in the United States.
The Basilica-Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador is the metropolitan cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John's, Newfoundland and the mother church and symbol of Roman Catholicism in Newfoundland. The building sits within the St. John's Ecclesiastical District, a National Historic District of Canada.
The Archdiocese of New Orleans is a Latin Church ecclesiastical division of the Catholic Church spanning Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, and Washington civil parishes of southeastern Louisiana. It is the second to the Archdiocese of Baltimore in age among the present dioceses in the United States, having been elevated to the rank of diocese on April 25, 1793, during Spanish colonial rule.
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Edmund Rice.
The Diocese of Antigonish is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in Nova Scotia, Canada. Its current diocesan ordinary is Wayne Joseph Kirkpatrick.
The Boys of St. Vincent is a 1992 Canadian television miniseries directed by John N. Smith for the National Film Board of Canada. It is a two-part docudrama inspired by real events that took place at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John's, Newfoundland, one of a number of child sexual abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church.
The Archdiocese of Sydney is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church. Its episcopal see is Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
This page documents Catholic Church sexual abuse cases by country.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Response of the Newfoundland Criminal Justice System to Complaints also known as the Hughes Inquiry was a Canadian royal commission chaired by a retired judge, Samuel Hughes, launched after allegations of sexual abuse by members of the Congregation of Christian Brothers at Mount Cashel Orphanage in Newfoundland. The commission began inquiry investigations on 1 June 1989 and published its report in April 1992.
The sexual abuse scandal in the Congregation of Christian Brothers is a major chapter in the series of Catholic sex abuse cases in various Western jurisdictions.
Catholic Church sexual abuse cases in Canada are well documented dating back to the 1960s. The preponderance of criminal cases with Canadian Catholic dioceses named as defendants that have surfaced since the 1980s strongly indicate that these cases were far more widespread than previously believed. While recent media reports have centred on Newfoundland dioceses, there have been reported cases—tested in court with criminal convictions—in almost all Canadian provinces. Sexual assault is the act of an individual touching another individual sexually and/or committing sexual activities forcefully and/or without the other person's consent. The phrase Catholic sexual abuse cases refers to acts of sexual abuse, typically child sexual abuse, by members of authority in the Catholic church, such as priests. Such cases have been occurring sporadically since the 11th century in Catholic churches around the world. This article summarizes some of the most notable Catholic sexual abuse cases in Canadian provinces.
Raymond John Lahey was a Canadian bishop of the Catholic Church. He was Bishop of the Diocese of Antigonish, Nova Scotia from 2003 to 2009. Lahey was charged in 2009 with the importation of child pornography. He was suspended from the exercise of his priestly and sacramental functions, resigned as bishop in 2009, and was laicized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.
The Mount Cashel Orphanage, known locally as the Mount Cashel Boys' Home, was a boys' orphanage located in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The orphanage was operated by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, and became infamous for a sexual abuse scandal and cover-up by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and NL justice officials.
Several cases of sexual abuse in St. John's archdiocese have been reported, starting in 1988. It is an important chapter in the series of clerical abuse affairs that occurred in the dioceses of Canada.
The Winter Commission was a diocesan commission appointed in May 1989 by Alphonsus Liguori Penney, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. Johns, to conduct hearings surrounding the Mount Cashel abuse affairs.
Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel H. S. Hughes, QC (1913–2002) was a Canadian lawyer who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Ontario. He had a less well-known background as a Canadian military historian during the Second World War.
Gemma Hickey is a Canadian LGBTQ rights activist and author. They became one of the first Canadians to receive a gender-neutral birth certificate and passport. Hickey founded The Pathways Foundation, an organization that offers support to survivors of religious institutional abuse and their families. Since 2010, Hickey has worked as Executive Director of Artforce, formerly known as For the Love of Learning, a non-profit that works to forge new paths for at-risk youth by advancing their literacy and creative skills.
Her Majesty's Penitentiary (HMP), located in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada is the primary facility for housing medium and maximum security male prisoners in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary sexual abuse scandal occurred in 2014 and concerned allegations of assault by Constable Doug Snelgrove.
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