A priest from France accused of sexually assaulting children in the Canadian Artic has died
TORONTO (AP) — Joannes Rivoire, a priest from France who was accused of sexually abusing Inuit children when he served at the mission in their Canadian Arctic community, has died after a long illness, officials said Friday.
The Oblates of Lacombe Canada and the Oblate Province of France said that Rivoire, who was in his 90s, died on Thursday. He had lived for years at a care home in Lyon, France.
An Inuit community in northern Canada has long sought Vatican’s assistance to get Rivoire extradited. He ministered to Inuit communities until he left in the 1990s and returned to France. Canadian authorities issued an arrest warrant for him in 1998 over several counts of sexual abuse.
Rev. Ken Thorson with the Oblates of Mary Immaculate Lacombe Canada said in an email that the death may be difficult news for those who advocated for the priest to face justice in Canada.