Canada’s Catholic Church was shaken by the resignation of a Nova Scotia bishop on Wednesday after child pornography was discovered on his computer.
Raymond Lahey, 69, resigned from his post as bishop of the diocese of Antigonish, Nova Scotia this weekend before news of his arrest became public, telling his flock on Saturday that he needed time for “personal renewal.”
Canadian customs officials at the Ottawa airport found the child pornography images during a random search of Lahey’s laptop computer in mid-September as he returned from the US.
The computer was seized and Ottawa police arrested and charged Lahey following an investigation with importing and possessing child pornography.
Father Paul Abbas, spokesman for the diocese where Lahey has held his post since 2003, said he could not “underestimate the pain and sorrow” this scandal would cause the congregation.
Lahey is best known for having brokered a landmark settlement worth C$13 million (US$12 million) with more than a dozen people who claimed to have been sexually abused by priests in the diocese dating back to 1950.
He was widely praised for his efforts.
In August, he offered the victims and their families apologies on behalf of the Church and said he “hoped to never again have to deal with such reprehensible behavior.”
POPULAR OFFENDER
In Louisville, Kentucky, a convicted sex offender has been ordained as the minister of a tiny church. He is a gifted music leader and popular among the church’s three dozen members.
Almost a decade ago, long before Mark Hourigan joined the flock at the City of Refuge Worship Center, he was convicted of sexually abusing an 11-year-old boy in central Kentucky. Hourigan served a five-year sentence and the 41-year-old was placed on Kentucky’s sex offender registry for the rest of his life.
A former leader at the church along with an abuse victims advocacy group say Hourigan is a risk to hurt another child and he should not have been placed in a position of authority.
“He’s still a threat” to children, said Cal Pfeiffer, who was abused by a Catholic priest as a young student in Louisville in the late 1950s and early 60s.
Pfeiffer and experts on religion and sexual abuse believe it could be the first time a convicted sex offender has been knowingly ordained as a minister in a Christian church.
The church’s pastor, the Reverend Randy Meadows, ordained Hourigan during a service on Sept. 13.
The self-described Pentecostal church, started by Meadows and a handful of other members six years ago, welcomes anyone “regardless of race, religion, culture [or] sexual orientation,” according to its Web site. It also has a Sunday school for children.
Hourigan said in an interview with CNN last month that wants to minister to others like him “who have been rejected.”
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