Ottawa Citizen
20 April 2000
BY Zev Singer
TORONTO A priest who taught a summer course in Ottawa for the past decade has resigned in the wake of. lawsuit against him for the alleged sexual altar boys three decades
But Rev Barry Glendinning, who says he has mastered his “problem,”said he will be sad to leave the :”genuine support” of the Saint Paul classroom.
In an interview with the Citizen Glendinning said he enjoyed the course, which is taught to only adults.
“It was a genuine support’,” for him, he said. “The experience was a very healthy thing.”
The priest said he must always be ready for his past to resurface. “These things come up in the course of time and one has to deal with them.”
Father Glendinning said he has had his problem under control since 1983.
“I feel from that point of view it’s behind me” he said. “But I can understand the feelings of others very much.”
The 66 year old retired Catholic priest who lives in Toronto and has taught a liturgy course at each summer at the Ottawa university, is the target of a civil lawsuit based on alleged incidents of sexual abuse between 1968 and 1974 in London, Ont.
Father Glendinning, who has admitted to sexual improprieties with boys, was convicted of six counts of gross indecency in 1974. He had stays in therapy centres in 1974 and 1983.
Last month, brothers John, Juy and Ed Swales who were 10, eight and six years old respectively in 1968, made their own names public for the first time, in a civil lawsuit centring on incidents during the 1968-1974 period:
Saint Paul’s administration was aware of Father Glendinnings’s record.
Rev. Dale Schlitt, rector of Saint Paul, said two students came forward in support of Father Glendinning after The Citizen reported the university was trying to decide whether to retain his services. One of those incidents had taken Father Glendinning’s course and had been very impressed by it.
“The other student just said, “We’re a community of forgiveness.”
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Former altar boys sue priest who teaches summer course
The Ottawa Citizen
undated
Zev Singer
Saint Paul University is reviewing the teaching contract of a priest being sued for sexual abuse of altar boys three decades ago.
Rev. Barry Glendinning, a retired Catholic priest who lives in Toronto and teaches a summer course in liturgy at Saint Paul, is the target of a civil law suit based on alleged incidents of sexual abuse between 1968 and 1974 in London, Ont.
In 1974, Father Glendinning was convicted of six counts of gross indecency.
After that, he was moved from the London diocese and sent to a therapy centre, the Southdown Institute, near Toronto.
In 1983, he was sent there again after being removed from a second diocese, in Edmonton.
After his second visit to the therapy centre, he returned to parish ministry work in Toronto.
Father Glendinning, who has admitted to sexual improprieties with boys, told the Edmonton Journal in 1989 that with the help of ongoing therapy he had reformed and had been functioning for years without relapse, which his superiors confirmed.
Three London brothers, however, have come forward this month, making their own names public for the first times in a civil law suit centering on camping trip and seminary sleepover incidents from the 1968-1974 period.
John, Guy and Ed Swales, who were 10, six and eight years old respectively in 1968, said they decided to go public with their story to rid themselves of the shadow which has hung over them since their boyhood experiences.
The brothers have said publicly that they were prompted to break their silence by the case of Sheldon Kennedy, the former NHL player who went public with his own story of sexual abuse in 1997.
The suit also names the Roman Catholic diocese of London, the Roman Catholic church, and the London District Catholic school board.
Allegations in a statement of claim remain to be proven in court.
Rev. Dale Schlitt, rector of Saint Paul, said that Father Glendinning had been teaching the summer course for several years before the administration knew about his past.
About a year ago, however, one of the deans, Rev. David Perrin, did learn of the incidents in London. But Father Perrin had not been aware Father Glendinning was an admitted repeat offender.
The university is now seeking legal advice on the issue.
“We’re really walking a tightrope here between protection of rights of an individual and appropriate hiring at a Catholic university,” Father Schlitt said. “We’re doing our darndest to try to respect the charter of rights and freedoms to respect the image of Saint Paul University to be fair to everybody.”
Father Schlitt added that another thing that changes the relationship between the university and Father Glendinning is: “It became a public discussion. And we had to ask ourselves, is it for the good of the university? Is it for the good of the individual accused here to continue our relationship?”
Father Schlitt said the university will decide some time before the course begins in July.