MONTREAL - A Roman Catholic order in Quebec is defending its reputation after a former French bishop claimed he was asked to take in one of its priests who was found guilty of sexually abusing children in the 1980s.
The one-time bishop of Evreux, Jacques Gaillot, told a Parisian newspaper earlier this week he regretted appointing Denis Vadeboncoeur to head a parish in western France, where he was convicted in 2005 of child abuse.
"We were being helpful," Gaillot said in an interview with Le Parisien. "We were asked to take in an undesirable priest and we agreed."
But Vadeboncoeur's old order in Quebec, the Religieux Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, denies it had anything to do with Vadeboncoeur's career being allowed to continue in France.
They said he went to France on his own initiative in 1987, two years after being given a 20-month sentence in Quebec for sexually assaulting children.
He was originally charged in the province with gross indecency and sexually assaulting several children aged 12-17, as well as one count of sodomy.
Upon learning of his new position in France, the order penned a letter, dated Oct. 29, 1987, to Gaillot informing him of Vadeboncoeur's past.
"We did what we had to do to inform those who were taking him in (in France), so there wouldn't be any surprises," said Alain Fiset, who headed Saint-Vincent-de-Paul during Vadeboncoeur's trial in France five years ago.
"What they did with that information is their responsibility."
The letter was sent to Gaillot again in 1988 and details Vadeboncoeur's crimes and punishment in Quebec, noting he served one-third of his sentence after pleading guilty.
Vadeboncoeur received a 12-year prison sentence in 2005 after a much-covered trial related to the rape of several minors between 1989 and 1992.
The letter's author, Pierre Levesque, headed the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul order at the time of the Vadeboncoeur scandal in the 1980s, and he offers an opinion about his chances of reoffending.
Levesque, who died in 2008, says the priest had made progress in psychological and spiritual treatments, but adds: "It is still not unreasonable to entertain certain doubts about his ability to not reoffend, particularly in difficult times."
The letter was printed in Quebec Le Soleil in 2000 when one of Vadeboncoeur's French victims came forward.
During the trial, it was revealed French church officials in Evreux failed to inform their municipal counterparts about Vadeboncoeur's criminal history, sparking outrage at the time.
Vadeboncoeur's old order asserts its conscience is clean in terms of its handling of the situation and insists Gaillot must be more willing to accept some of the blame.
"He recognizes he made a mistake, but at the same time his mistake is to have treated the case lightly," said Fiset.
Gaillot's comments come as the Roman Catholic Church is struggling in several countries to rehabilitate its reputation following a wave sex-abuse scandals.
While several senior church officials in Europe apologized to abuse victims over the Easter weekend, the Vatican has repeatedly downplayed the severity of the crisis.
In Canada, the church has recently faced criticism for failing to turn over documents to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission looking at abuses in residential schools.
