Saskatoon priest says he hugged, kissed girl as part of religious ‘tradition’

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A suspended Saskatoon priest says he hugged and kissed a 13-year-old girl while she was cleaning St. George’s Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral because it’s a religious tradition to show appreciation and support.

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Using a walker to approach the prisoner’s box, Father Janko Kolosnjaji testified as the sole defence witness when his judge-alone trial continued Friday in Saskatoon provincial court.

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The 71-year-old is charged with sexual assault. He’s accused of hugging and kissing a girl on the lips while they were alone in a cleaning supplies room on March 11, 2023.

Her identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban.

Kolosnjaji was charged on April 19, 2023 and released on a recognizance. He was suspended shortly after.

When the trial began in August, the girl testified, through a Ukrainian translator, that she was helping her mom clean the church at 210 Avenue M South when Kolosnjaji came into a room while she was getting a vacuum.

She said he told her to give him a hug that lasted about 15 to 20 seconds before he raised her chin with one hand and kissed her on the lips.

The priest then told her, “You have very beautiful eyes,” she said.

Kolosnjaji testified in English, but told court he communicated with the girl in Ukrainian.

He said he went into the room, which was always open, after hearing a loud noise. He said he told the girl to be careful and saw that she was “very red, very scared that maybe something happened with the vacuum cleaner.”

He testified he gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek “of peace.” The girl’s head was down during the hug and he kissed her when she looked up, Kolosnjaji said.

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“This is just a normal thing that is happening,” he said, adding that he also commended the girl for helping her mom. He said he didn’t lift the girl’s chin, and doesn’t remember kissing her on the lips or commenting on her appearance. 

Court heard he later called the girl’s mom to ask why they didn’t finish cleaning, and was told the girl was upset. Kolosnjaji said he asked to speak to her so he could apologize. 

He said the woman and her boyfriend came to his office instead, and he told them that his intention was only to give her support. 

He testified he thought the girl was upset and uncomfortable because of her status as a Ukrainian refugee. He said he told her mother that he could relate because he fled the Yugoslavian war in 1991. 

Kolosnjaji said he’d previously hugged the girl about five or six times “to give her courage” and admitted that she never initiated the hugs.

He testified about church ceremonies where priests and bishops kiss each other’s rings, shoulders and cheeks. He said it was also customary for him to hug children every Sunday, and sometimes hug and kiss parishioners after service.

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The girl’s mother testified she had never witnessed Kolosnjaji greet people with a hug or a kiss, or seen others kiss his hand. She said she saw Kolosnjaji put his hands on her daughter’s shoulders and told her boyfriend that she thought Kolosnjaji was paying “too much attention to her.”

“Did you have a sexual desire to kiss her?” defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle asked his client.

“Not at all,” Kolosnjaji replied.

When Pfefferle asked why he didn’t hug her younger brother, he said he doesn’t know.

Under cross-examination, he told Crown prosecutor Sheryl Fillo that he also doesn’t know why he didn’t ask her mom for hugs.

“I’m not sure that she needed some kind of support from me,” he said.

Court heard the girl’s family were not parishioners. Fillo asked Kolosnjaji why he would ask a girl who wasn’t a family member or a parishioner for hugs.

“I have no explanation about that,” he said, later adding that he wanted the girl to feel happy and comfortable at the church, and to “show my appreciation” for her help.

Kolosnjaji told Fillo that he kissed the girl on the right side of her cheek, close to her mouth. Fillo asked why he thought he was allowed to kiss a 13-year-old girl on any part of her body.

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“This is a part of our culture, a part of our tradition,” he said.

Fillo suggested the priest used the hug as an opportunity to kiss the girl while she was close to him. He disagreed.

In his closing arguments, Pfefferle noted that the girl testified the hugs always happened in rooms while she and the priest were alone. That contradicts her mother’s testimony that she saw Kolosnjaji hug and touch her daughter, and Kolosnjaji’s testimony that her mother was right outside the room where the kiss happened, he said.

“This wasn’t a secret at all,” Pfefferle concluded, adding that while the girl said the kiss made her feel uncomfortable, the Crown didn’t prove that it violated her sexual integrity or establish that it was sexual in nature.

Fillo said there’s no evidence that the priest knew the girl was comfortable with the hugs — other than her compliance — arguing that she didn’t consent to being kissed.

The case was adjourned to Dec. 12 to choose a January decision date.

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