Here’s a few articles on the 11 February 2018 death and subsequent funeral of Archbishop Joseph MacNeil, canon lawyer; Director of the Extension Department of St. Francis Xavier University; former Bishop of St. John, New Brunswick ’69-’73, ; Archbishop of Edmonton (’73-’99), and; President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (’79-’81)
16 February 2018: “Tears, prayers, and joy as Archbishop MacNeil heads to eternal home” & related articles
As you see, the entire funeral at Edmonton’s St. Joseph’s Basilica is available for viewing.
My memories of Archbishop MacNeil are not good. My mind goes back to the late 90s when I first discovered that back in 1976 the archbishop had graciously provided safe harbour to recently convicted molester, Southdown alumnus and prominent liturgist from the London Diocese, Father Barry Glendinning, ….and that within seven short years at least 15 young boys in the Edmonton archdiocese had been sexually abused by Glendinning, several were repeatedly sodomized.
Glendinning quietly disappeared from the Edmonton Archdiocese. Just – gone! No charges. No cautions. Not a whisper. Nothing. First, back to Southdown, then cunningly recycled into a parish in the Archdiocese of Toronto. It seemed in fact that keeping Glendinning in ministry while simultaneously keeping unwitting Catholics in the dark and willfully placing children at risk was a ply hammered out by Emmett Cardinal Carter and Archbishop MacNeil. Emmett Carter, you see, was Bishop of London when Glendinning was charged, and he was Bishop of London when an agreement was reached with MacNeil that the convicted liturgical molester could enjoy a home away from home in the Edmonton Archdiocese. Carter became Archbishop of Toronto in 1978. He was elevated to Cardinal in 1979. So, when Glendinning was ‘caught’ in Alberta Emmett Carter was the Cardinal Archbishop of Toronto. And so, – yes, indeed, Glendinning was slipped out of Alberta and, after a perfunctory stop at Southdown, was now given safe haven by Carter and quietly recycled into a parish in the Archdiocese of Toronto.
Teamwork.
When word finally got out that the convicted molester had been recycled to the Edmonton Archdiocese and molested all those young lads MacNeil mused that “perhaps” he had made a mistake in taking him in.
Yes. He said “perhaps.”
He has now gone to meet his Maker
Enough for now,
Sylvia