Judge rules that diocese is a public institution.

Ottawa -- The Cornwall Inquiry, newly begun after a decade or more of on-again, off-again police inquiries, concerns alleged child sexual abuse that supposedly had been ongoing for years. In the process several of the alleged accused have actually died.

The Victims' Group and their lawyers keep plugging away at their cause, and on May 1 they received a boost from a ruling--described by Catholic constitutional lawyer Peter Lauwers as "bizarre"--which moved into new legal territory.

Judge Norman Claude ruled that the local Catholic diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall is a public institution. This puts the diocese on the same level as, and liable to be held to the same standards as, entities such as Children's Aid and the criminal justice system. Judge Claude's rationale was that the diocese is an organization providing services to the public, including education and medical services. But as David Sheriff-Scott, the diocesan lawyer, pointed out, the diocese receives no government funding and is not under government control.

The Cornwall diocese has co-operated fully with the inquiry and has turned over to it all relevant materials on its employees. It is now concerned that the new "departure from established law" will become an official "intrusion into the institutional structure of the Church." In other words, once again, an individual judge--following his personal interpretation of the law--is threatening the independence and freedom of the Catholic Church.

Despite these concerns, Mr. Sheriff-Scott said that the diocese would not appeal Mr. Claude's ruling in the interest of not further delaying the inquiry. It would "take the high road and avoid the charge of a cover-up that would have attended a judicial review" (Cath. Reg., June 4, 2006).