MONTREAL — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal is planning to forbid priests from being alone with children and other vulnerable people.
Canon Francois Sarrazin says the policy will be introduced in September in a select number of churches across the city as a pilot project.
Sarrazin said today the new rules don’t only apply to priests but to all diocese employees, volunteers and anyone in what he calls the orbit of the Catholic Church.
He says the directives were created to ensure the safety and integrity of anyone associated with the diocese.
The Roman Catholic Church in Quebec has been rocked by child-abuse scandals as have Catholic dioceses around North America and the world.
Carlo Tarini, a spokesman for an association of victims of priests, says the new rules are too little too late.
