minimum necessary force

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Aug 26, 2008

The retired bishop of Alexandria-Cornwall (Ontario) recalls that one of his priests confessed to homosexual liaisons, according to a news report, but he's fuzzy about the degree of persuasion employed.

A retired priest and accused sexual abuser told his bishop he'd had trysts with other men, including parishioners, the Cornwall Public Inquiry heard Monday.  But the sexual relationships Rev. Charles MacDonald admitted to after a heated discussion between former bishop Eugene LaRocque and the city's police chief were all consensual, LaRocque testified yesterday.  "I cannot recall that at any time [Fr. MacDonald] had said that he assaulted, that he had forced, anyone," [Bishop LaRoque] said.

Doesn't pass muster.  If LaRoque remembers the conversation with MacDonald, he'll remember whether MacDonald confessed to rape or not.  That's not the kind of detail that would grow blurry with the passing years.  A straightforward denial ("MacDonald made no mention of coercion") or a straightforward assertion of MacDonald's caginess ("He became evasive when I asked him if all these acts were consensual") would be believable.   

Help me out here: has a bishop's memory ever failed him when the fact to be recovered was exculpatory?  Your Uncle Di does not have a clear recollection.