From National Catholic Reporter:
A Canadian court has ruled a Basilian priest can continue his civil suit against fellow Basilian Fr. Thomas Rosica and the Basilian Fathers of Toronto, with the plaintiff, Fr. Michael Bechard, seeking damages for alleged sexual abuse by Rosica.
Bechard has also filed a complaint under “Vos Estis Lux Mundi,” Pope Francis’ 2019 motu proprio governing the reporting of alleged sexual abuse involving clergy, religious and bishops. In a September 2024 statement to OSV News, the Diocese of London, Ontario — which is not named in Bechard’s lawsuit — stressed that Bishop Ronald Fabbro, to whom Bechard had complained in 2015 about the abuse, denied any allegations of failing to act. Instead, said the diocese, Fabbro had advised Bechard that “the correct course of action was to contact the Congregation of St. Basil so they could begin an investigation.”