Archdiocese of Vancouver confirms 3 more priests involved in abuse settlements

Three more priests who served in Vancouver parishes are involved in settlements related to sexual abuse, according to a report released by the Archdiocese of Vancouver.

The report, dated Dec. 14, 2020, also confirms 13 more people have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse.

In 2019, the CBC's The Fifth Estate reported that the Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver was aware of 36 cases of abuse by clergy under its jurisdiction, including 26 cases involving children.

Five days later, the Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver named nine clergymen who have criminal convictions or lawsuits settled against them related to cases of sexual abuse dating back to the 1950s.

The updated report says John Edward Kilty, Johannes Holzapfel and Armand Frechette were involved in settlements. All served in parishes in Vancouver, and all have since died.

Most of the alleged abuse occurred between the 1940s and 1960s.

"We understand that some people think that we should speak less about this issue because it may seem that it feeds into an 'antifaith' narrative," said the December 2020 report from the Archdiocese of Vancouver.

"We believe that greater transparency allows us to reach and care for more victims/survivors while increasing vigilance and safe environments within our parishes."

In August, a woman who says she was assaulted as a child at a Catholic elementary school in Vancouver announced she would be suing the local archdiocese for perpetuating and covering up decades of alleged systemic abuse by priests, bishops and other members of its clergy.

The proposed class-action lawsuit said the Archdiocese of Vancouver not only knew for years about allegations of systemic sexual, physical and psychological abuse, but "fostered a culture" of misconduct and actively buried complaints filed against the clergy.