Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Other Christian institutions & contexts Catholic St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada · 2020

Canada: Archdiocese held vicariously liable for Mount Cashel abuse; final after SCC denies leave

Record class

Institutional event

Evidence status

Civil finding

Authority role

Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John's

Organization

Archdiocese of St. John's

Spiritual nexus

The court's holding is about authority itself: the Archdiocese bore responsibility for the custodial religious power it sanctioned over the boys.

  • Institutional obedience or isolation

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2020-07-28 · final appellate civil finding

    Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal; Supreme Court of Canada (leave denied). The NL Court of Appeal unanimously held the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John's vicariously liable for sexual and physical abuse committed against Mount Cashel residents in the late 1940s and 1950s. The Supreme Court of Canada denied leave to appeal in 2021, making the ruling final and opening compensation for survivors.

Appellate history

  1. 2021 · undefined

    undefined

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • archdiocesan sanction of the Brothers' custodial authority over residents

Primary record

Sources

legal press court reporting appellate disposition 'N.L. Court of Appeal finds archdiocese liable for abuse at Mount Cashel orphanage', Canadian Lawyer (2020).

Legal-press report of the appellate ruling and its basis.

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