CBC censoring public discussion of priest complaint

The buzz around Charlottetown is about Father Smith and allegations he was sexually improper with a man two decades ago.

No allegations against P.E.I. priest brought to police writes the Guardian.

Priest allegations reported years ago: bishop on the CBC site is closed to comments.

Considering the notoriety of the story and the anguish this gives many Roman Catholics, the lack of a public forum on the CBC website is wrong. It smacks of censorship.

Manipulation of the public by the media is common. In this case it’s our publicly funded CBC who want to shut down public comment.

“Allegations that led to the suspension of a Roman Catholic priest in Prince Edward Island were evidently reported to a church official more than a decade ago, a bishop said Wednesday.”

“Rev. George Smith, who was working at St. Malachy’s Church in Kinkora, P.E.I., has been removed from his duties following a complaint about an incident alleged to have occurred while he worked in western Newfoundland.”

“The complainant made the report earlier this month about an alleged incident of sexual touching that occurred on church property in Deer Lake, N.L., where Smith was assigned as a parish priest between 1986 and 1991.” CBC

The story ends with “This story is closed to commenting.”

Nothing has been proven in court; however, the case will not likely be tried on PEI so jury tainting is not an issue. Why is CBC not allowing people to comment?

CBC Charlottetown is a weird place with all kinds of strange goings-on. They censor news, slant stories to their own bias and out-right don’t cover social issues on a regular basis. One of their reporters has disclosed he took a low or no interest loan from the government he reports. Closing a story to comments is just another in the long litany of reasons to question why we are putting tax dollars into them.

I am Catholic. I find the stories about sexual misconduct among priests believable and disturbing.

It’s the free speech right of people to comment on these and other stories. If the CBC is going to cover it, they need to leave commenting open.