Father Gilles Deslaurier

1968:  Master of Ceremonies for Bishop Adolphe Proulx

after Proulx was installed as Bishop for the Diocese of

Alexandria (Alexandria-Cornwall). 

Living in the Bishop’s place with Proulx,

retired Bishop Rosario Brodeur and Fathers

Donald Kerr and Rejean Lebrun. 

 

Ordained: 1970 for Diocese of Alexandria (Alexandria-Cornwall).  

1971-72:  Secretary to Bishop Adolphe Proulx.  (Listed in Catholic directory as living in the Bishop’s palace with Proulx and retired Bishop Rosario Brodeur.)  

April 1971 – 01 September 1977: administrator of Saint Mary of the Assumption at Green Valley 

1977: Became involved in R³ (also referred to as “R3” or “R Cubed”) a youth movement for young people age 17 to 25  which in French stands for “Recontre” and means “Meeting with Oneself, Meeting with others, Meeting with Christ.” 

Youth from the Alexandria-Cornwall diocese initially travelled to the Convent of the Sacred Heart Sisters in Ottawa for the weekend retreat.  Most of those youth were from Alexandria, having being recruited through the local secondary school. 

After Father Deslaurier was named Chaplain at La Citadelle he began encouraging students at the school to attend the weekends. 

September 1977: named Chaplain at la Citadelle secondary school in Cornwall. Living in residence at St. John Bosco.

1978 - ?1985:    Deslaurier began organizing and conducting the R Cubed weekends locally at the Sacred Heart Juniorate in Summerstown.   

Initially Deslaurier was assisted by Father Luc Bouchard (now Bishop of Saint Paul, Alberta).  When Bouchard left to study in Rome he was replaced by Father Denis Vaillancourt. 

 

In a period of six years (1978-84) 900 young people from the diocese attended the retreats.  It is unknown how many Roman Catholic youth from the diocese attended the retreats in Ottawa. (Strangely it seems that after 1985 the weekend retreats were no longer conducted locally and groups were again sent to Ottawa, and also Valleyfield, Quebec) 

 

R3 was eventually replaced by La Releve, a youth movement for 15 to 18-year-old teens. 

 

1980:  St. John Bosco in Cornwall (with Father Rejean Lebrun) 

• In charge of French vocations to the priesthood for the diocese. 

• In charge of Juvenat du Sacre-Coeur. 

• French sector Chairman for Liturgy for the diocese (Father Kevin Maloney in charge of English sector, Father Luc Bouchard Coordiantor, and Sister Mary McAlear sscj in charge of music)  

• Listed in charge of the diocesan French Cursillo movement.  Father Charles MacDonald was in charge of the English Cursillo movement. 

Cursillo is one of the many “lay-led” “renewal” movements which proliferated after Vatican II.  It comprises initially of a weekend, Thursday evening to Saturday afternoon, conducted at a facility large enough to cheaply accommodate the numbers for meals and bedding – often a Church hall or local camp. 

   

 The weekends are traditionally gender specific – men traditionally ‘doing’ their Cursillo first and women a week or two later. At least one priest is present at the facility and participating in events for the duration of the weekend – preferably there are two. 

  

The English Cursillo movement under Father Charles MacDonald’s leadership was active from 1974 -1980.  Although Deslaurier was listed as running the French branch of the movement in the diocese for some of those years it is known that until 1979 the French Cursillo existed in name and name alone.  There is a good possibility that Deslaurier assisted on the English weekends.  

1984-1986:   Pastor at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Cornwall (the Co-cathedral) 

 

January 1986: the parents of a young man approached Bishop Eugene Larocque alleging that their son had been sexually molested by Father Deslaurier.  When no action was taken, the couple went to the Papal Nuncio, then Angelo Palmas.  Following that visit, Bishop Larocque carried out an internal investigation, then contacted the couple and promised that Deslaurier would be  kept out of active ministry and relocated to receive therapy in the Gatineau-Hull Diocese (then under the helm of Bishop Proulx, the former Bishop of Alexandria-Cornwall).   

 

Deslaurier resigned on the 13th of February.  One week later he was discovered saying Mass in a Hull parish where he was filling in for the ailing parish priest.  

 

Eventually Deslaurier faced multiple charges of sexual abuse against five boys between 1978 and 1984.  Deslaurier was found guilty and sentenced to two years probation, reporting to a probation officer and Bishop Proulx.  Newspapers of the day reported that Bishop Proulx of the Gatineau-Hull Diocese had volunteered to watch over Deslaurier, an offer which the judge said, “indicates a confidence he has in the future of this person.”   

 

Father Deslaurier moved on, serving as a priest in St. Adele, Quebec, and then on to Vercheres, Quebec. 

 

In 1997 the Ottawa Sun learned that Father Deslaurier was under investigation for new sex allegations in St. Adele.  When Deslaurier learned of the allegations his response to his Bishop Vital Masse was to sue the alleged victims.