CV NEWS FEED// A Canadian archdiocese will be paying millions of dollars as compensation for decades of abuse that occurred at a Catholic orphanage.
292 victims will each receive between $55,000 and $850,000 in Canadian dollars, with the Archdiocese of St. John owing $104 million in Canadian currency, Canadian Underwriter reports. Many of the victims were abused at Mount Cashel Orphanage.
Mount Cashel Orphanage was an orphanage in the Archdiocese of St. John, near Newfoundland. The orphanage closed in 1990 and was demolished in 1992. In 2020, the diocese was found liable for the abuse that occurred at the orphanage starting in the 1940s, though the orphanage was run by the Christian Brothers.
The Archdiocese of St. John declared bankruptcy in 2021 and has sold church properties to raise funds; however, it still lacks the resources to pay the victims.
Bob Buckingham, a lawyer who represented 70 of the victims, suggested that there are other sources for the compensation, like insurance policies, saying, “No guarantees, but I’m optimistic we can get there.”
