Father Allan A. MacDonald, Diocese of Antigonish, NS

October 08, 2009

Philip Latimer is the name of the brave man sitting beside me today. He is a victim of sexual abuse by Father Allan A. MacDonald, a now deceased priest of the Diocese of Antigonish.Philip is here to publicly announce his rejection of the class action settlement negotiated by Bishop Raymond Lahey. Philip seeks investigation and exposure of the Church’s awareness and reaction to the problem of clergy sexual abuse of minors, something which he feels the class action settlement does not provide. He is therefore commencing a civil lawsuit through which he seeks answers to his many questions regarding sexual exploitation by clergy in the Diocese of Antigonish. Philip grew up in Havre Boucher, Nova Scotia. In the early 1970's he was a young parishioner at Saint Paul Parish in Havre Boucher. He was an altar boy to Father Allan A. MacDonald, then pastor of Saint Paul Parish. Philip respected, trusted and admired Father MacDonald. Father MacDonald breached this position of trust by sexually abusing and victimizing young Philip commencing when he was 11 years of age. Father MacDonald abused Philip on an ongoing basis for a period of four years between 1973 and 1977. Most of the abuse occurred in Father MacDonald’s living quarters, the rectory at Saint Paul Parish in Havre Boucher. As a result of the abuse, Philip has struggled through decades of fear, shame, guilt, depression, and alcoholism. He lived on the brink of suicide for many years. Today he breaks his silence and begins his search for the truth, which he feels is not adequately addressed in Bishop Lahey’s class action settlement. Sexual abuse of minors is a crime of secrecy. Too often church officials and church communities are uncomfortable or unwilling to address the issue of sexual abuse. The perpetrators rely on this fact and on their relative position of power to silence the victims and prevent them from reporting the abuse. We can combat this problem through investigation, openness and awareness. The process of civil litigation allows for such an investigation through the process of both documentary and oral discovery. There are many questions at this early stage which remain unanswered: * Did anyone report Father MacDonald to the Diocese? * Was any Bishop aware of Father MacDonald’s problems with young boys? * Did Father MacDonald offend at other Parishes? * When was the Diocese first aware of one of their priests sexually abusing children? * What was the Diocese reaction to this knowledge? * What policies and procedures, if any, did the Diocese have in place to prevent sexual abuse of children? * Has the Diocese ever treated priests for sexual deviance? * Are there any other credible reports of sex offender priests in the Diocese of Antigonish that the public does not yet know about? Anyone with answers to these questions or any information concerning Father Allan A. MacDonald is encouraged to call a toll free tip line at 1-866-674-4994. Philip knows he is not alone. An additional concern with Bishop Lahey’s settlement is the December 4, 2009 deadline for opting out. You cannot put a time limit on victims of sexual abuse. You cannot force victims to come forward before they are ready to speak out. The legal and medical community in this country have long recognized and protected a victim's right to deal with such trauma on their terms and at their own pace. There is not and should not be a time limit on such tremendous crimes. The fact that the Bishop’s settlement effectively gives all victims until December 4 of this year to come forward or forever keep their silence is quite frankly very alarming. For these reasons Philip is publicly announcing his rejection of the class action lawsuit. For him compensation is only part of the answer. Much more important to him is truth, awareness and prevention.