Canadian priest banned after downplaying residential school abuse

Father Rheal Forest also blamed the media for spreading ‘fake news’ about the physical abuse of Indigenous children.

A Catholic priest in Canada has been banned from speaking publicly by the Archdiocese, after accusing Indigenous residential school survivors of physical and sexual abuse, of lying to get money in federal court settlements. Father Rheal Forest made the comments on July 10 during a sermon in St Emile Roman Catholic Church in Winnipeg where he was reportedly filling in for the church’s regular pastor. “If they wanted extra money, from the money that was given to them, they had to lie sometimes – lie that they were abused sexually and, oop, another $50,000,” Forest said, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC).