On Monday, Catholic Priest, Fr. Richard Smalls made headlines and history, when he was named the first Catholic Priest in Belize who had been linked to "credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors."
He was named by the Parish of Richmond Virginia in the US, but he has been here in Belize for decades. And, the Catholic Bishop of Belize, Larry Nicascio said in a release that he is duty bound to report Father Smalls to the Vatican and to remove him from serving in any ministry here in Belize.
While Father smalls has rejected the allegation - and says he passed a lie detector test to disprove the allegation 50 years ago - the issue has raised a hornet's nest of speculation - finally bringing Belize into an international scandal plaguing the Catholic Church.
The Ministry of Education - which is linked inextricably to the Catholic Church - through the church - state school management system says there is reason for concern - but not hysteria.
Hon. Patrick Faber - Minister of Education
"I believe that those issues are really matters that the church needs to handle. But, insofar as many of our church leaders are involved in education, we have to be concerned. As far as I am understanding, these are allegations against the Reverend, Oliver Smalls, and I believe that the Roman Catholic Bishop made the right move in terms of asking him to withdraw himself from service at this time. I think that that was important, until we're able to make certain that our children are not exposed to any kind of danger. We have to err on the side of caution in these in these instances. But, that is one situation. Of course, on a daily basis, there may be situations that put our children in jeopardy, and we have to be concerned in the Ministry of Education, and in fact, the wider government, to ensure that our children are in safe environments. So, the ministry is always concerned, and we keep a watchful eye on these situations."
"I don't think that in terms of what is happening in Roman Catholic Church, while we know that it is a prevalent problem in other parts of the world, particularly the United States. I don't think that at least in my time as minister, that I have heard about allegations so serious against any of the Roman priest or - which I only point out because that is our largest partner in terms of our primary school system. And for that, any of the other denominations that are here, I have not come across members of the cloth who are accused of such things."
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