“TORONTO – A Canadian Roman Catholic bishop pleaded guilty Wednesday to importing child pornography, prompting the Vatican to say it, too, would impose disciplinary measures.
Bishop Raymond Lahey, 70, entered the plea in an Ottawa courtroom — a rare case of high ranking Canadian Church official facing charges over sexual misconduct.
The Vatican said Wednesday that with Lahey’s criminal trial now over, the church will now impose its own disciplinary or penal measures against him.” Read more here:
“Canadian Bishop Pleads Guilty In Child Porn Case,” by Charmaine Noronha, Associated Press, MSNBC.com, May 4, 2011
Bishop Raymond Lahey must be defrocked as both priest and bishop. No longer can the protective shield hidden behind by many clergy and high church officials be the norm. Those day, hopefully, are coming to its end.
In a related story, the Vatican STILL hasn’t decided what to do with Bishop Vangheluwe of Belgium, who had sex with his nephew from age 5 to age 18. Then he had sex with his other nephew.
The Catholic church is an embarrassment.
You have a choice to help blow it all up, and get rid of its leadership, or leave this legacy of embarrassment for future generations, including your children. During times of teenage rebellion, they will use examples like this to pull away from the church, and they probably won’t go back.
It seems he might have been doing something besides just getting pictures………since the church leadership only cares about money…….who was paying for the airplane tickets, hotels etc. us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and then they say they don’t have money to pay victims who are so devastated they even have a hard time getting up in the morning let alone trying to hold down a job. Who checks his spending????????
Beth: The next big scandal will be the financial mismanagement of the church. Many of these priests and bishops are not accountable to anyone. Common sense would dictate that strict accounting and audit standards be implemented to account for our donations. Without our money there will be no institutional church structure. However, do not fear, the church are you, me and the rest of the baptized. We will be around.
Yes I believe you are right…….many of us are waking up……..since we are all flawed…….especially with money there have to be checks and balances……..that’s why Jesus said give away everything you have and come follow me .He knew what he was talking about…….he knew it was hard to be honest and live a good life if you have money and power. I just wonder how many times this Bishop traveled to these countries before without getting caught.