An independent review of a priest accused of sexually abusing Inuit children in Nunavut says his Catholic order wasn’t aware of the allegations when he returned to France.
Denis found the Oblates of Mary Immaculate didn't know Rivoire was being investigated by Canadian police when he arrived in France in 1993, and the religious order was not contacted by RCMP when charges were laid five years later.“Rivoire did not tell the whole truth to his superiors, to his confrères, to the Inuit for whom he had pastoral responsibility, and he himself denies a reality that has nevertheless been demonstrated,” Denis says in his final report released Tuesday.
Inuit leaders and politicians urged the priest to face trial, and there was mounting pressure on the religious order to provide answers. Last year, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, OMI Lacombe Canada and the Oblates of the Province of France appointed Denis to lead the review. The review also found evidence of another Inuit victim around 1968 to 1970, although no complaint was filed.When the Oblates in France confronted Rivoire 15 years after the charges were filed, the report says he told another priest in France that he is “not innocent” and “in the environment children were looking for tenderness that they didn’t have in their families.”
Rivoire arrived in Canada in 1959. He stayed in the North until January 1993, when he told superiors he needed to return to France to take care of his elderly parents.Denis says it’s possible rumours about the priest’s behaviour are why he left, but that information was not shared with the church. “The RCMP had no communication with the Oblates, nor did they notify them of anything throughout the legal process,” the report says.
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