Canadian Diocese Requests Vatican to Defrock Dishonored Priest
The Epoch Times
By Helena Zhu
27 January 2010
Epoch Times Staff Created: Jan 27, 2010 Last Updated: Jan 27, 2010
The diocese of Bathurst in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, has asked the Vatican to unfrock a priest who recently pleaded guilty to 22 sex-related offenses involving boys. The move would restrict retired priest Levi Noel to being a lay person within the church.
Noel, 84, was sentenced last Friday to eight years in prison for gross indecency and indecent assault. The offenses occurred between 1958 and 1981 while Noel was a priest on the Acadian Peninsula in northeastern New Brunswick.
Speaking on behalf of the diocese, Father Wesley Wade apologized to Noel’s victims.
“It’s very sad that these situations happen, and we are very sorry and we apologize again to all the victims and their families,” he told CBC News.
“It’s very sad when we see people of authority, especially in the church, people who are supposed to be men of God, abuse children.”
Noel, who had worked as a priest for 30 years before retiring a decade ago, pleaded guilty to 18 charges last October. The 18 victims were aged between 8 and 16 at the time of the abuse.
Last week, Noel pleaded guilty to four additional charges after four more victims came forward.
Several victims were abused on a weekly basis for years, and all of them suffered psychologically as a result, said Judge Donald LeBlanc during the sentencing.
Some of the victims, who may file a lawsuit against the diocese, held a news conference after the sentencing to urge other victims to come forward. They are calling on the diocese of Bathurst to make more efforts to prevent abuse and provide psychological counselng to victims.
Wade told CBC News that all dioceses across Canada and throughout the Western world have committees in place to help focus on what can be done “to avoid these situations.”
“So that’s what we do in our diocese. We have been doing that for 10 to 15 years with a committee—to be in a situation of security for our children on all church premises.”
Crown prosecutor Pierre Gionet told reporters that he believes Noel’s sentence is the longest a priest has ever received in Canada for sex abuse crimes.
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Former N.B. priest gets 8 years for sex offences
Last Updated: Friday, January 22, 2010 | 5:23 PM AT
A retired Roman Catholic priest who worked on New Brunswick’s Acadian Peninsula for 30 years has been sentenced to eight years in prison for 22 sex-related offences involving boys.
Crown prosecutor Pierre Gionet told reporters he believes it is the longest sentence a priest has ever received for this type of crime in Canada.
Levi Noel, 84, pleaded guilty last October to 18 of the charges, including gross indecency and indecent assault. The charges related to incidents that occurred between 1958 and 1981, while Noel was a priest in northeastern New Brunswick.
He pleaded guilty to four additional charges this week after four more victims came forward.
The RCMP investigation into allegations against Noel began in May 2008 after one person spoke out and continues to this day as more alleged victims have come forward since the original charges were laid.
The victims were boys between the ages of eight and 16 at the time of the abuse, the court heard.
During sentencing in Tracadie-Sheila on Friday, Judge Donald LeBlanc said Noel abused the trust of his victims and the community and abused his authority as a priest.
Some of Noel’s victims were abused every week for years and were blamed for the abuse, the judge said. All of them have suffered psychological consequences as a result, he said.
Noel sat still, staring straight ahead as the judge read the sentence.
Several of his victims and their relatives were in the courtroom for the sentencing.
Some victims, who have voluntarily allowed their names to be made public despite a publication ban, held a news conference after the sentencing to speak out against the abuse and to persuade other victims to come forward.
Lowell Mallais had a picture of himself as a young boy pinned to his shirt. “This is the age I was abused at, at 12 years old,” he explained.
Mallais said he’s relieved Noel is going to jail, but he’s not sure eight years is enough.
“I’ve suffered, what, 46 years? He’s going to get eight.”
Mallais and some of Noel’s other victims are calling on the diocese of Bathurst, N.B., to do more to help them and others who have been sexually abused.
They want the diocese to implement changes to prevent further abuse and to make psychological counselling available to victims.
More legal action possible
“It’s the diocese of Bathurst’s moment now,” said Robert Talach, an Ontario lawyer who helped the victims organize the news conference.
“Are they going to be like every other diocese and react in a protective, medieval way? Or are they going to be innovative and new and set the standard for the church around the world? That’s up to this bishop and that’s the challenge that’s at his feet.”
Talach said no lawsuit has been launched against the diocese but didn’t rule out the possibility.
“There’s some unanswered questions that the victims have that the criminal system is not designed to answer,” he said.
“Questions of institutional responsibility, institutional awareness and forward-thinking issues of change and policies that need to be implemented that can’t be effected through a criminal process since its sole focus is on the perpetrator.”
For now, Talach believes speaking out is the next step in dealing with the past for many of the men.
“For many of them, I think there’s a cathartic healing journey of coming forward and going through the legal process,” he said.
“They have sat by the wayside as the criminal process has moved forward with its own momentum, and now, as that concludes, they see this as an opportunity for them to speak out and tell of their experiences and their desires for the future.”
Noel left the Bathurst diocese decades ago.
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Retired N.B. priest pleads guilty to sex offences
CBC
Last Updated: Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | 4:35 PM AT
A retired priest from the Acadian Peninsula has pleaded guilty to 18 sex-related offences involving 14 young boys.
Levi Noel, 83, entered his pleas in a crowded Tracadie-Sheila courtroom on Wednesday.
The charges include 13 counts of indecent assault, four counts of gross indecency and one count of assault. Twelve other charges were withdrawn.
All of the charges stem from incidents that occurred between 1959 and 1981, when Noel was a priest in the diocese of Bathurst.
The victims were between the ages of eight and 16 at the time, the court heard.
There is a publication ban on the names of the victims, but three of them asked to be excluded from the ban to help bring light to the issue.
Conrad Brideau, Donald Landry and Lowell Mallais, who are all in their late 50s, held a brief news conference following the court appearance.
The men started the meeting with a moment of silence for Noel’s victims, some of whom have committed suicide. They have declined to comment on the case until Noel is sentenced.
A sentencing hearing will be held on Jan. 20 at 2 p.m., when victim impact statements are expected to be presented to the court.
The maximum sentence for gross indecency is five years in prison, while indecent assault on a minor carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Crown prosecutor Pierre Gionet told the court he will be seeking a sentence of between six and nine years.
Noel, who now lives in Quebec, will be sentenced on Jan. 22 at 9:30 a.m. He remains in the community. He was ordered to have no contact with the victims and to advise the RCMP of any address change.
Meanwhile, the RCMP investigation continues. Police believe there are other victims and are asking people to come forward.
The investigation into allegations against Noel began in May 2008 after one person came forward, breaking 30 years of silence.
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