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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — The back of Courtroom 5 at Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court in St. John’s was filled with boxes Friday, each containing decades’ worth of documents. There were transcripts from preliminary hearings, previously filed affidavits, and binders organized by colour, labelled with the surname of a local priest convicted of sexually abusing children.
“Corrigan” was printed in capital letters on some binders, “Bennett” on others. The folders the court was particularly interested in when St. John’s Roman Catholic Archbishop Peter Hundt took the witness stand were labelled “Hickey,” for Father James Hickey, who was convicted of 20 offences involving boys while he was a St. John’s high school chaplain and a parish priest in Portugal Cove and on the Burin Peninsula in the 1970s.
Hundt, who became archbishop of St. John’s in 2019, was the first to testify as the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s (RCECSJ) renewed its legal fight against its insurance company over the settlement of clergy abuse claims.
The insurance company has denied liability, saying the RCECSJ’s knowledge of the sexual abuse and failure to disclose it rendered its insurance policy invalid.
Lawyer Philip Buckingham, representing Guardian Insurance Company of Canada, questioned Hundt — who had no first-hand knowledge of the historic abuse, but was testifying on behalf of the archdiocese — on the hierarchy and duties of archdiocese officials in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as their knowledge of the sexual abuse.
Hundt confirmed what was in an agreed statement of facts and already acknowledged by the church in court a decade ago: the archdiocese was aware of the abuse, but did not disclose it to Guardian, nor to child-protection authorities.
Buckingham read aloud a 2011 affidavit from Father Ronald MacIntyre, who said he had been told by a young man about an incident with Hickey. MacIntyre concluded the incident had progressed to sexual contact and, with the youth’s permission, brought it to the attention of the vicar-general, who told him, “Leave it with me and we’ll take care of it.”
A statement from the youth indicated he had disclosed the abuse to several clergy, but nothing was done, apart from Hickey once confronting him and saying he wasn’t responsible for things he had done while sleeping.
“Did the church conduct its own investigation or engage in any process to determine whether or not the allegations against (Hickey) had substance, that you’re aware of?” Buckingham asked Hundt.
“I have no information about that, other than what you read about the fact that Hickey confronted the student. It would seem that he must have been talked to,” Hundt replied.
Buckingham asked Hundt if the archdiocese at the time the child reported the abuse would have felt he needed to be protected from Hickey.
“Hindsight is 2020. We can look back now and say (the abuse) did happen and it was wrong,” the archbishop answered. “In 1975 when this allegation was brought to the monsignor, I don’t know how it was perceived at that point.
“If he had any feeling that the allegation might true, he needed to investigate.”
“Is not a mere allegation enough?” Buckingham asked.
“Certainly in 2023 it is,” Hundt replied. “I can’t speak to 1975.”
The insurance issue was first raised in court in 1989, when a claim was filed against the archdiocese for damages from Hickey’s abuse. Guardian denied liability, saying the RCECSJ’s failure to disclose its concerns about Hickey voided the insurance policy. Guardian later agreed to sign an order requiring it to defend the archdiocese in the claims and settled with it out of court.
In 2009, the company refused coverage to the RCECSJ on the same basis when another person came forward with a claim involving Hickey. The church took the matter back to court, and Guardian argued it should not be bound by the previous order, as it had received new information about the extent of church officials’ knowledge of Hickey’s actions.
The RCECSJ won its case at trial but lost on appeal; it applied for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada but its application was dismissed.
The issue returned to court with newer claims for damages by victims of sexual abuse by Christian Brothers at Mount Cashel Orphanage and other Roman Catholic clergy in St. John’s, for which the RCECSJ has been found vicariously liable and is in the process of settling.
RCECSJ lawyer Chris Blom plans to call a retired insurance company executive from Ontario to testify by video when court proceedings resume.
