(Montreal) The Jesuits of Canada promise to continue the investigation into allegations of sexual abuse linked to a priest who once worked in the Mohawk community of Kahnawake on the South Shore of Montreal.
Posted at 3:54 p.m.
The decision comes after a vote in the community of Kahnawake last weekend in favor of the exhumation of the remains of Father Léon Lajoie. He was assigned to the Saint-Francois-Xavier mission church in the reserve from 1961 to 1996.
Members of the community reported last summer allegations of sexual abuse against Father Lajoie, who died in 1999. They are demanding that his remains be removed from the territory in order to begin a healing process.
The Jesuits said Sunday they respect the decision, adding that their next step would be consultations with the community on the transfer of the cleric’s remains to a Jesuit cemetery in Saint-Jérôme, in the Laurentians.
Although the independent investigation they called for did not provide evidence of abuse, the report did not “clear all allegations” against Father Lajoie, the Jesuits of Canada said in a statement.
They clarified that two of the complaints examined were unfounded, “and that one of them, although credible, could be due to mistaken identity”.
The scope of the ongoing investigation will have to be determined by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, the community and the parishioners of the Saint-Francois-Xavier Mission Church.
This article was produced with the financial support of the Meta Fellowships and The Canadian Press for News.