Recently, Bishop Ronald Fabbro of the Diocese of London retired as the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of London Ontario on April 21, 2026. Bishop Fabbro had been the leader of the Diocese of London for the past 24 years. In those two dozen years he has had to react to a large number of revelations of sexual misconduct by priests of the Diocese or within the Diocese. Many of the allegations were historical in that they occurred before his reign as Bishop, but it was his administration which had to react to them.
In 2019 a local victim’s advocacy group published a list of 36 priests of the Diocese of London, or priests who had worked within the Diocese, who had credible allegations of sexual misconduct made against them. Fabbro described the list as “substantially correct”. The list includes the following priests, some convicted and some deceased, but all credibly accused:
- Father Lins Bastien
- Father James (Jim) D. Blonde
- Father Richard Boll
- Father Leo Campbell
- Father Robert Charbonneau
- Father Leo Charron
- Father Colm Corrigan
- Father Pascal Thomas Cromien;
- Father Gabriele Del Bianco
- Father John Correirra Duarte
- Father Andy Dwyer
- Father Michael Fallona
- Father Barry Glendinning
- Father John Blake Harper
- Father Charles Lanoue
- Father Ulysee Achille Lefaive
- Father Cameron MacLean
- Father Hodgson Marshall
- Father Douglas Mercer
- Father Robert Morrisey
- Father Joe Nelligan
- Father Thomas C. O’Flaherty
- Father Laurent (Lawrence) C. Paquette
- Father Konstanty (Konnie) Przybylski
- Father Ron Reeves
- Father William Ring
- Father Alcide Alphonse Robert
- Father Bernard Aubigny Robert
- Father Gary Emile Roy
- Father Alfred Francais Sasso
- Father Piotr Scanzenko
- Father Godwin Scerri
- Father Gerald Stock
- Father Charles Sylvestre
- Father Michael Francis White
- Father James (Jim) Willliams
Since the publishing of the 2019 list a few more priests have joined this club from the Diocese of London, or while ministering in the Diocese, as follows:
- Father Lucio Xavier Couto
- Father Ronald Cullen
- Father Mike L.C. Langan
- Father Ermete Nazzani
- Father Joseph Redican
- Father Stephen Savel
That puts the count at 42 priests in a relatively small Diocese encompassing Southwestern Ontario. Some of these priests were not incardinated to the Diocese of London but did have religious faculties (permission) to minister in the Diocese at the time of the alleged abuses. All credible allegations of abuse arising from this list did take place within the geography and jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Diocese of London.
Bishop Fabbro had to deal with many of the dozens of lawsuits and various criminal proceedings arising from these priests’ misconduct and accordingly, may he enjoy his hard-earned retirement.
