"Do unto others.....?" - follow-up on PEI minister

The Presbyterian Church on Prince Edward Island is reviewing its legal options after a human rights ruling yesterday.

The church was ordered to pay more than $600,000 to a female minister after the P.E.I. Human Rights Commission ruled she was sexually discriminated against. The commission is ordering the Island Presbytery to reinstate the ministerial licence of Rev. Gael Matheson, and to issue an apology for her removal from the pulpit in 1996.

"The discrimination that Rev. Matheson endured took place over a long period of time and she is still being affected to this day by the consequences of trying to seek a resolution in this matter," the human rights panel said in its decision.

"It is clear to the panel that Rev. Matheson has endured public humiliation that will stay with her for the rest of her life."

The commission had earlier concluded that some members of Matheson's congregation in the parish of Murray Harbour North were opposed to women in the clergy.

Matheson was subjected to hate mail, stalking and a whisper campaign in which she was branded a child molester, a lesbian, and "the whore of Babylon."

One allegation accused Matheson of molesting children in the Gaelic girls' choir.

LINK: Hamilton Spectator