A Canadian bishop is facing a Vatican-ordered probe, on charges that he failed to act when informed about an allegation of sexual assault against once-popular media personality Fr. Thomas Rosica.
Sources say that in March, a priest who was allegedly assaulted by Rosica filed a complaint charging that when he informed Bishop Ronald Fabbro that Rosica had sexually assaulted him, the bishop was unwilling to listen, and did not apparently address the allegations, or forward them to Rosica’s religious superior.
The complaint was filed through a system devised by Canada’s bishops to receive reports of sexual abuse or cover-up by bishops. The system was launched after Pope Francis promulgated in 2019 Vos estis lux mundi, a set of procedures designed to investigate allegations of episcopal sexual abuse or negligence in bishops’ duties regarding abuse.
The complaint was forwarded to the Archdiocese of Toronto, and according to sources close to the case, is now under consideration at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops.
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Fabbro, 73, became the bishop of London, Ontario, in 2002. For five years before that, he was the superior general of his religious order, the Congregation of St. Basil.
Rosica is a member of the same religious order; Fabbro was his religious superior in 2000, the year in which Rosica is alleged to have committed sexual abuse against a younger priest, during the lead-up to 2002’s World Youth Day.
According to sources close to the case, the priest claims that he began in 2015 to inform Fabbro of the alleged assault, but Fabbro abruptly terminated the conversation and ended a meeting with the priest, rather than assist in addressing the priest’s allegation.
The Pillar reported earlier this week the substance of the priest’s allegations against Rosica.
In a lawsuit filed in March, the priest charges that in the early 2000s, while Rosica was charged with planning the 2002 Toronto World Youth Day, he exploited a mentoring relationship with a younger priest, in order to “exert total control over him, prey upon him and sexually abuse him.
The suit alleges that Rosica exposed himself to the young priest, and repeatedly “groped and fondled” the young priest’s genitalia.
“Rosica facilitated the abuse under the guise of his role as teacher, priest, and guidance counselor, and further with a view of implicitly or explicitly helping the Plaintiff’s career within the Church in return for Rosica’s sexual advances,” the suit charged.
According to the lawsuit, the priest-plaintiff suffered difficulty in relationships, difficulties with mental health, and difficulties in his priestly vocation, because of Rosica’s alleged sexual assault.
The lawsuit also charges that Rosica’s religious superiors — which would have included Fabbro — should have known that Rosica would be a danger, because they had allegedly received other complaints “about his actions with young males,” but “took no steps to stop the behaviour or to protect the Plaintiff, and instead, took steps to attempt to cover-up the behaviour.”
Sources say that Rosica has been frequently the subject of complaints alleging imprudent or sexually suggestive behavior toward younger males, both clerics and laity.
Basilian leadership — including Fabbro — “knew or ought to have known that Rosica had engaged in deviant behaviour and failed to investigate such. In failing to investigate and identify any past failings of Rosica, they also failed to identify any victims who may have been in need of counseling, assistance and support because of the actions of the Rosica,” the lawsuit charged.
It is not clear whether the priest reportedly assaulted by Rosica was interviewed by officials after the Vos estis lux mundi complaint was filed.
After the lawsuit was filed in March, Rosica’s priestly faculties were removed, but Rosica is not facing a canonical process. His attorneys have argued that the lawsuit against him should be dismissed, in favor of a canonical penal process.
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Investigations conducted under the aegis of Vos estis lux mundi are often undertaken confidentially, even while Pope Francis has committed the Church to transparency regarding allegations of sexual abuse or cover-up. While in some countries, Vos estis investigations are announced publicly, the Vatican has unclear policies regarding the disclosure investigations, and has not consistently indicated their results.
The 2019 norms of Vos estis lux mundi were intended by Pope Francis to bring clarity, transparency, and consistency to the investigation of bishops accused of sexual abuse or administrative misconduct.
Neither the Archdiocese of Toronto nor the Diocese of London have yet responded to The Pillar’s request for comment.
For his part, Fabbro has been outspoken in recent years regarding the problem of clerical sexual abuse.
In 2018, he lamented “the failures of the bishops who covered up abuse” in the Church.
“The cover up was terribly wrong, Fabbro wrote in a September 2018 letter.
“Catholics are rightly outraged that the bishops failed to put a stop to the abuse. How could they have failed so grievously in their calling to be shepherds of their people and in their responsibility to protect the most vulnerable among us?"
