Noel: Father Levi Noel

22 Responses to Noel: Father Levi Noel

1. Lowell Mallais says:

   April 22, 2011 at 9:56 am

   Judge Donald LeBlanc = sentencing of Levi Noel ;

   http://www.canlii.com/fr/nb/nbpc/doc/2010/2010nbcp8/2010nbcp8.html

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2. Sylvia says:

   April 25, 2011 at 10:52 am

   Thnaks Lowell. It is now posted on the site.

   I made a comment at the bottom of the article. I am a little puzzled Noel’s comments but am unsure if that us due to a problems with the google translation? Perhaps you can help?

   (A reminder to all that the ruling can be translated into English using the Translate link at the top of the page. )

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3. Sylvia says:

   June 20, 2011 at 11:26 am

   Court time for Wednesday, 22 June 2011 is 09:30 am (Tracadie-Sheila courthouse). I encourage all those who are within driving distance to attend as a show of support for the complainants.

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4. Michel B. says:

   June 20, 2011 at 5:27 pm

   So how is it thast this criminal gets 8 years while marshal only gets 2 years.. the judge says.. “During sentencing, Judge Donald LeBlanc denounced Noël for taking advantage of his position of authority, breaking the trust of the community and the church, and manipulating vulnerable children.

   LeBlanc said he is not convinced that Noël regrets what he did, or fully understands the impact the abuse has had on the victims and their families.

   Many of the victims were abused once a week on an ongoing basis for several years, the judge said.”

   Pretty much the same travesty lived by the survivors..

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5. Lowell Mallais says:

   June 22, 2011 at 9:26 am

   The pedophile priest Levi Noel was refused a court lawyer and will be back on July the 20, 2011 at 10am to enter à plea!

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6. Sylvia says:

   June 22, 2011 at 8:40 pm

   Thank you for that new court date Lowell. I will update the Legal Calendar accordingly.

   I don’t quite understand what you mean by saying he “was refused a court lawyer.” Did he not have a lawyer representing him in court today?

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7. Lowell Mallais says:

   June 23, 2011 at 6:28 am

   Levi Noel was told, on arrival at the court house, yesterday morning, that the province has refused pay for his lawyer or as in legal aid. He must come back on the 20th of July to enter a plea, I guess this, with or without a lawyer. The judge gave him 4 weeks to find one. By the bishop’s lawyer was in court, but didn’t say a word!
   Hope this helps, in understanding the situation, Lowell

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8. Sylvia says:

   June 23, 2011 at 9:19 am

   Thank you Lowell. That is truly bizarre. The Diocese isn’t picking up the tab? And legal aid won’t pick up the tab?

   He must have assets and/or income which prevent him from securing legal aid?

   I wonder if this is a bit of a game? Was there perhaps an attempt here to get the diocese off the hook by getting legal aid to pick up the tab? and now that Noel has been turned down by legal aid the diocese will step in? or, will Noel now manage to find the necessary funds himself?

   It’s bizarre!!!

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9. Lowell Mallais says:

   July 21, 2011 at 9:22 am

   Père Lévi Noël sera de nouveau en cours le 31 août pour répondre à 2 charges. Mr. a pas pu trouver un avocat pour aujourd’hui!

   Father Lévi Noël will be back in court on the 31 of August to answer on 2 charges. He could’nt find a lawyer for today!

   Wondering out laud: how can another 30 days in prison going to help him find a (guilty plea) lawyer?

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10. Lowell Mallais says:

    July 28, 2011 at 7:25 am

    Your calendar does not have Lévi Noël back in court on the 31 of August 2011?

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11. Sylvia says:

    July 28, 2011 at 11:08 am

    I have added the date to the calendar. I confirmed: 10 am, 31 August 2011 at the Tracadie Sheila court house, “for election.”

    Here’s a link which explains what “for election” means: http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/dept-min/pub/just/08.html Scroll down to “How do criminal cases proceed?” That section deals with the right of the accused to elect the manner in which to proceed.

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12. Lowell Mallais says:

    July 30, 2011 at 9:04 am

    OK, looked up your link, but it does not show how & where, Lévi Noël will get a lawyer, with 30 more day behind bars, of his 8 years sentencing? He couldn’t find one in the last 30days, what makes 30 more days any different?

    I was told by a lawyer (legal aid) in Campbellton while waiting for Charles Picot’s sentencing: “He (Levi Noel) was refused free legal aid because he must have some holdings that he doesn’t want to use to pay for his legal aid/lawyer” I asked him if his employer’s (the bishop) holdings have anything to do with him? He smiled!

    Has he got holdings or not?
    Your guess is as good as mine!

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13. Sylvia says:

    July 30, 2011 at 9:58 am

    He must be getting legal advice from someone Lowell. The next step for him is deciding how he wants to proceed, in which court and whether trial by judge, or trial by jury.

    I think you and I both know he will not be left high and dry. Either he cashes in some of his holdings (if that’s why he’s been denied legal aid), or the diocese will find a way to take care of him, or some friend/former parishioner with deep pockets will come to his rescue.

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14. Lowell Mallais says:

    August 31, 2011 at 11:17 am

    père Lévi Noël viens de plaider “coupable” sur 2 charges de/sur pédophilie et doit revenir pour sa sentence le 12 octobre 2011 à 11am! father Levi Noel pleaded guilty on 2 charges and must come back for sentencing on the 12 October 2011 at 11am.

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15. Sylvia says:

    August 31, 2011 at 11:27 am

    Hallelujah!

    Thank you for that welcome news Lowell.

    A guilty plea. What a relief for the victims.

    I will add the 12 October 2011 sentencing date to the legal calendar.

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16. Lowell Mallais says:

    October 13, 2011 at 6:41 am

    He got 1 years and 6 month for the 2 charges, but no more time to be spent in prison! He is following a program on pedophilia in prison and got a good reference about it,
    from prison staff! Still it did good for the victim, even though his excuses were done with a grin! Can’t imagine what’s going on in his head!!!!
    Next stop is his application to be released from prison next March! Gee 8 years go by so fast!!!

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17. Sylvia says:

    October 13, 2011 at 8:14 am

    Thanks for the update Lowell.

    What would we do without you? You’re almost becoming a permanent fixture in the courtroom! What a blessing for the victims to have you there as a friendly face. Thanks for all that you do for them Lowell.

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18. Sylvia says:

    November 8, 2011 at 9:00 am

    According to media Michel Bastarache was supposed to submit his report to the Bathurst Diocese yesterday. Has there been anything in the news? or is this a hush-hush do between Bastarche , the Bishop and select diocesan officials?

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19. JG says:

    November 8, 2011 at 10:49 am

    …a deafening silence, Sylvia.

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20. Sylvia says:

    November 8, 2011 at 9:21 pm

    Let us know as soon as – if?!!! – there is a murmur JG. Surely at some point there will be a press conference and grand announcement of all the good that has been accomplished – just like the last time it was supposed to be all over and done with, a year ago I think?

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21. Baspuits says:

    March 22, 2012 at 7:22 am

    This came out this morning on L’Acadie nouvelle (translated)

    I would like to add a comment to the editorial by François Gravel in Acadia – News of March 9, 2012 “… The name of pain” from the name of the arena in Cap-Pelé.

    You wrote: “Above all, the alleged victims have gained credibility by saying they do not want to persue the diocese or get money, but want a peace of mind. This request is fair and reasonable. They deserves our support ….. ”
    I would like to note that claims for compensation in money do not detract from the credibility of victims, for which the devastating effects of their attacks is also economically. How many have not successfully had an education, beyond these misdeeds/abuses? And clergy can not pretend to be anything in terms of complicity when we know now repeated assignments of “suspicious” and moving these priests from one parish to another?
    Regarding the support deserved from the media, can we count on the support of our cause, or that of a group of abused Northeast victims, that require reform in order more than ever there will be no more children at risk (of abuse) in the Diocese of Bathurst?

    On the tube, Téléjournal in Acadia on March 8, they discussed the recommendations of the former Justice Michel Bastarache, who gave it to the Diocese of Bathurst in November 2011. One of his recommendations, as former judge, would’nt it not stipulate that the diocese must turn to the police records concerning all other pedophile priests, as did the Archbishop of Dublin in Ireland Colling? Former Justice Bastarache did he not formally recognized that there are other abusive priests? It has even been a headline in the Acadie nouvelle on Thursday, October 28, 2010: “They are other abusive priests in the Northeast, according to Michel Bastarache” It’ll be a year & a half, and the other wrongdoers are still at large, to the dismay of the victims and to the detriment of society. I ask “why”? thank you

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22. Baspuit says:

    May 13, 2012 at 5:02 am

    One of our best support letter and they say women can’t be priest! After reading this, I ask you WHY? (Translated)

    The scandal that tarnishes our diocese doesn’t find its source in the disclosure of man having been abused, but it finds its source in the disgraceful acts of a pedophile priest, who chose to abuse young children throughout many years.

    To denounce the abuse is absolutely necessary and does not put the church in perish; on the contrary it gives us a chance of renewal by the truth.

    The rape conducted on those young church servants broke their lives and affected them deeply in their sexuality, their spirituality. It also influenced their capacity to discover the good sense of life. It shattered their self esteem and established in their thoughts painful torment.

    The abuse greatly disturb their emotional world through nightmares, guilt, shame, anguish and left them alone to cope with hate, resentment, bitterness, fear, sadness, anger, rage, deception and some lived through this for over forty years.

    This profound injury to their whole being, body, mind, soul, sense, sexuality, in a church context, even injured their way of living their spirituality. Even reconciliation had to be received from a priest.

    Being molested profaned their soul, mind and body and left within themselves a sense of malediction of their whole life. The abuse stole the beauty of life in their souls, then innocence and the candor of a child. This was a profound blow of their right to liberty, respect and justice in the church.

    It also falsified their truth and their sense of value for themselves and for the other and even affected their relationship with God!

    These priests, victims of their own suffering, spread it wherever they were and left in their path many broken lives.

    When I was a child, another priest at my native parish, also abused many young church servants.

    One of my childhood friends, who was precious to me, had a fragile psychology. He committed suicide in his thirties. He is not the only one. It is because of him that I chose to write this document today. It’s my own way of giving him respect and justice.

    The many abuse perpetrated by pedophile priest are now known worldwide.

    Sexual offenses in our diocese and throughout the world have ruined many lives.

    The victims will be hurt by the memories of the abuse all their lives. So will their families, the clergy, the parishioner and the abuser himself.

    Such disgracing gestures; will stay imprinted in our history like an important memorandum that we must not forget or see as being banal, so we must not turn the page too fast.

    We must read every word of this experience to draw a sense of recognition to prepare and experience reconciliation and prevention.

    No use in trying to hide this. It has happened and saying it out loud, is the only way to unmask shameful but true reality of those hurtful gestures in our church.

    We must and I insist, must recognize it in order to assume it.

    It is only then, than enlighten by the experience we will be able to assume it and build a new church founded on equality of humans with the basic value of justice, respect and truth.

    The possibility or the certainty that the authorities of the time choose to close their eyes and their ears and simply decided to change the priests form parish to parish is both deceiving and incomprehensible.

    The persons in authority in church are considered to be very intelligent men.

    Isn’t it horrible that they let them have new parishes? Did the do it in the hope that it would stop? Did they wrongly judge the depth of the problem? Were they scared or possibly did they simply wash their hands of the whole situation?

    Whatever was the reason one thing is sure. It’s an abomination! The link of confidence and trust in the authorities has been shook to their foundation and roots.

    Is it possible that the clergy did not know just how much the abuse on young children can be harmful to their whole being?

    Keeping such secrets is always harmful to everyone involved, including the church and clergy.

    Or is it that the authorities clearly lack the wisdom of a good judgment because they wanted to protect the church or possibly evade a scandal?

    The law is clear. Whoever knows of sexual abuse on children has to report it or become accomplice.

    Somebody clearly missed this whole file because theses abuses continued for over twenty years in different parishes on many children.

    We must understand that it is easier to believe a colleague priest than a distant parishioner who represents a treat to the church. It is difficult for the church to be objective in these matters because everything is decided uniquely by the authorities and single man who live in solidarity as elite priest.

    They bond as family between themselves.

    In the last month in Rome, there were reunions regarding sexual abuse in Ireland.

    Lay people were excluded woman and men although a good number of victims and parents could have brought interesting points and enriched the discussion with different point of view.

    All were excluded but the clergy and this also is another form of abuse in the church. Can we have true objectivity in making choices regarding the church, if all humans are not represented?

    To recognize an error is the first step toward making new recommendation.

    These abuses left in the heart of those youngsters the legacy of a broken life and the impossibility to regard his person as a value.

    The sense of discernment was falsified and thus installed in their being the dynamic of a victim.

    The way the authorities handled the disclosure by silencing the victims and ignoring their truth was like a second abuse and hurt the victims again even more at the core of their being and spirituality.

    They became incapable of choosing the best for them, incapable of affirming themselves in the respect of their capacities and limits.

    They became incapable of saying no to things they felt didn’t respect their true self. So they lived as victims of life circumstances and victim of the church attitude of covering up.

    Those young children became men, husband, father, and grand-father. They live their life based on the legacy of hurt.

    Their whole sense of value at its lowest hurts them as people belonging to a church, hurt in their live at their capacity to choose as believer belonging to a church, which they felt had abandoned them.

    They lived a desert in their faith. Their quest for justice was denied they were simply abandoned and misjudged as enemies of the church.

    The human being is both fragile but resilient. A person has the capacity to heal the worst offense; psychological, physical, sexual spiritual by engaging in recognizing this hurt truthfully, by recognizing the depth of the wound.

    It is the great gift of resurrection.

    The first step is making new choices and revealing the truth of the experience instead of denying or protecting the other.

    The truth shall set you free.

    The truth gives a new way of life and become the now road that precede and favor the reception of pardon, reconciliation, peace and trust.

    A person is a bit like a tree. He needs its roots to stand and feel rooted to life. Being rooted to life supposes drawing strength from all experience in life including the past. We can’t live just for today.

    The choice to stop the denial is a must. It is the first move needed to contribute to stopping the abuse within. The lying and the secret create the opposite and gives stillness, hate, rupture, division and mistrust.

    We don’t always have a choice regarding what we will encounter in our lives. But we always have the choice regarding how we will choose to live it.

    We are encountered by two different powers. We may choose the truth that sets free or denying the truth which contributes to hurt even more. The abuser usually entices the victim to silence. The truth liberates the capacity to express the injustice the abuse freely.

    The lack of truth or cover up perpetuates a second hurt deep down in the heart and soul.

    It is linked to denial to being indifferent and betrays the call of the truth itself.

    The lying or camouflage of the truth denial of the reality brings the person to a standstill in his life.

    It is link to fear and it paralyses the heart and soul.

    Having the courage to name the hurt is difficult but also brings the hope of a new life. It is link to faith and confidence.

    Assuming the past is of great value.

    Yesterday’s experience enlightens today and prepares for a tomorrow, enriched by the assumed experiences.

    Every experience in life can be transformed through goodness and love and may become a beacon to guide one’s life and can collaborate to enrich both ourselves and the others.

    The coming of such a state in our life has to be chosen and suppose a continuous development.

    Nothing is completely lost; we are always enriched by the experience in some way.

    Those abused children became men and they drew up on their last residue of self esteem to denounce the injustice and the lack of respect of the abuse.

    They dared saying the truth. Imagine how hard this must have been for them because this involved the church.

    They exposed themselves to rejection a possible rupture with members of their family and being pointed at or misjudged as enemy of the church.

    Their choice of a new gesture breaking the silence was the first step in setting in motion a new way for their life by taking action.

    They restored a new sense of value for themselves and invited us all to do the same including the clergy and the whole church.

    One of the last document produce by Jean Paul 11 was in reference to hell. He said that hell is not a place but a state. Denial and lack of truth brings on such a state it is an inner prison.

    Nobody can heal a wound without cleaning it first. The depth of the recognition will give precisely the same amount of healing. A surface recognition gives a surface healing.

    A deep recognition gives a deep healing and is link precisely to the choices we make.

    The truth is a choice of love.

    Lying or covering up is a choice of inner death.

    There is no delicate way of breaking the cycle of the subterfuge as there is no delicate way to puncture an abscess.

    The grace of healing finds its source at the root at the core of every wound.

    The Bathurst church and the world church is in a wounded state humiliated and poor longing to be saturated with the power of love that heals.

    This humiliated sense is precisely the state needed to welcome a new sense of value. It is the fertile ground for resurrection. Refusing to admit the error and the suffering, denies us the great gift of experiencing healing.

    Every injury recognize and offered to God in faith finds its healing in the depth of love the inner gift who has the power to recreate in an incessant way a new genesis, a new being, a new church, a new person but always in reference to the truth the life and the way.

    It could be a new way of being a new church at the service of the truth.

    It liberates the heart and soul and heals the body senses, sexuality, spirituality, in fact the whole being.

    It is the great gift of salvation.

    The hurt and pain is inevitable in our lives. Every human being is both capable of creating the best goodness or the worst evil.

    The first offense is link to the great pain of pedophilia, which is said to be incurable.

    The second offense is link to betrayal of the truth and the indifference of deafness and blindness used to cover up.

    In Acadie as elsewhere we often regard our priest as idols. Aren’t they human in every sense of the word not better or worst simply human.

    Aren’t they sense to be humble servants of God’s love and compassion?

    We have the right to expect them to be role model who chose to built justice and truth that create peace.

    As a church we must accept to lose appearance and accept the vulnerability and the fragility of human kindness to create humbleness any subterfuge is unhealthy and destroys the great value of confidence and trust.

    I read in the papers and heard on the radio that the authorities feel compassionate towards the victims.

    Compassion is synonym of being permeate to the suffering of other and being able to listen to their needs.

    Being compassionate is contrary to force control of the hurtful being in any way of shame and guilt people in any way.

    Compassion means having the capacity to exceed the word to create a behavior that will collaborate to reinstate and reestablish a climate of respect and dignity.

    Those people abused for long are now asking today’s authorities to have for them a true recognition of their value.

    They would like to collaborate to the edition of a new protocol for the prevention of sexual abuse in the church.

    Through their experience they feel that they can bring new element and they wish to collaborate to favor a better judgment, a better objectivity and a better understanding to unmask the subtle way and manipulation of the abuser.

    Isn’t it a demand that’s just and fair?

    If we look upon the past experience the abuse and abuser have been dealt with in a very light way.

    We may even say that this was overlook as being important. Therefore doubting the competent way of the authorities to deal with the facts is permissible. Isn’t it normal to want changes in the way of dealing with such matters?

    The persons who have been abuse know better than anyone else through their experience the roots of the dynamic of the abuser. They paid the price of learning it in a true experience.

    They still pas the price.

    All they are asking is to share their experience and their knowledge as collaborators to the well being of the children of our diocese and the church.

    Isn’t it the role of a father and grand father?

    That validation of theirs experience would contribute to their self esteem and is even an important of their healing process.

    It would also contribute to our healing as church members who want to promote the value of each person.

    Let’s not miss the chance as a church to share the truth once and for all and let’s not be too fast on giving the status of layman to a person who has been protected by the diocese for so long.

    Shouldn’t we draw a precious lesson from all this and keep it preciously in the bishop’s annals? Let’s hope that guided by the experience of the lack of justice never again shall we judge as banal the facts or simply refuse to hear the cry of lay people often regarded at as not so important.

    It is a unique chance of a new beginning that is offered to us now.

    The deep wound in the life of those me would become fruitful by the collaboration to the well being of our church, our children and grand children and would collaborate in establishing a new bridge between the lay people and the clergy.

    All this could take place through humility, openness and collaborate to changing mentalities of absolute knowledge.

    These men with a bruise and abuse inner child are asking for the recognition of their value as a human being by the authorities.

    The week the abuser pleaded guilty the spiritual column in l’Acadie nouvelle invited us to look at the beauty of the stars in the sky.

    Was it a subconscious remark to blind us to the reality of the truth again?

    I say in these human stars hope for them and hop for the church.

    The primitive church was built on the evidence of resurrection in the life of the first disciples.

    Let’s not miss the chance as a church to go deep inside our wounds to welcome healing and renewal.

    The term « layman«  use to describe the new status of Lévi Noël hurt many lay people.

    Since he is no longer dignified enough to be a member of the clergy because he was convicted of wrong doing, he is now part of ordinary people layman.

    He is retrograded and it is presented to us as through he has not the value of being impressive because he made mistakes so he will now be part of the inferior part of the society.

    Nobody is sheltered as to never make mistakes or bad choices in his life.

    Will we also retrograde all the people who protected him?

    In the eighties the Petit Rocher Church was vandalized by layman. The authorities of the time decided right away to have a purifying ceremony of the building.

    How come after forty years of the abuse in churches of la Péninsule Acadienne no such ceremony has been done or judge as being Necessary?

    The gross indecency was not purified.

    The abuses made in the church by Lévi Noël were sacrilegious not only of the church building but also of the body of young children true temple of God.

    Is it again the difference between the elite clergy versus the secular?

    The law who protect the values in our society gave a wise sentence a first in Canada as to the length of the time to be sent in prison.

    It is now up to the people responsible in our diocese to have the courage to face up to the true fact.

    This would have a healing effect not only on our diocese but also in the whole church.

    Aren’t we all related to the same spiritual body?

    Our church needs badly transparency openness and accountability to regain its credibility.

    Let’s just hope that we will have the courage and strength needed to do it now once and for all.

    Let’s not despair.

    We are in a time of great grace in our church because we are invited to be touch and moved by the truth.

    Our church is now graced worldwide with an invitation to be faithful to the truth believing and having confidence in the resurrection to welcome the possibility of a new way of managing the great gift of love bestowed upon us all.

    We are invited to drive deeply and confidently in our suffering as a church and welcome being baptized in God’s unconditional love.

    We are blessed that our God Jesus Christ loves us infinitely at the heart and the deepest root of our suffering our poor way of loving and justifies our miss with love.

    Let’s not miss the chance that is given to us.

    Let’s not be scared to experience what seems to be a form of death in our church.

    It is necessary and just and could it bring the first breath of the possibility of a new church who values the person before the appearance.

    The resurrection in our church will have the same depth as the recognition of our miss and suffering.

    The victims will have greatly collaborated to open tombs sealed with the silence of death killing the value of love for over forty years.

    Every human being is brought into life by God and is of great value.

    Questioning the choice of action in people as a society as a church is a must. The acts of wrong choices are reprehensible but the persons are excusable.

    We have been graced by the victim’s truth which is empowering our church to set it free.

    Let’s hope that justice will prevail to favor dignity and openness to the truth.

    Isn’t it the role of every catholic believer to reinstate justice, dignity and respect with the truth to create peace?

    April 5, 2010

    Martine Morais Matteau M.A.

    Master in Theology

    Petit Rocher, Acadie.

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