Joveneau: Father Alexis Joveneau omi

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Alexis Joveneau

Father Alexis Joveneau

Belgian-born Oblate priest.  Ordained 18 February 1951.  It seems that he was ordained to the priesthood in Belgium (probably as an Oblate), then relocated to Canada to fulfill his desire to do  missionary work in Canada.  Died 1992.

Identified as a molester at the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

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Documentary about Father Joveneau (in French)

  Click here to view the 1977 NFB documentary “The taste of flour.”  The documentary is set on the Lower North Shore, at the Innu communities of Unamen Shipu (La Romaine) and Pakuashipi (Saint-Augustin) and their hunting grounds.  The documentary is in French.

………..

The NFB has now added a warning on it’s website.  The following is a google translation of the warning:

WARNING
From 1960 to 1985, Alexis Joveneau, a Belgian Catholic missionary of the Clerical Congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate who was the parish priest of the Montagnais of La Romaine (Innu of Ulamen-Shipit) from 1953 to 1992, participated in five films of NFB: Attiuk (1960), Ka Ke Ki Ku (1960), Flour Taste (1977), Land of the Treeless Land or Mouchouânipi (1980), and Grand Look II (1985). Since November 2017, allegations of assault have been made against Mr. Joveneau by members of the La Romaine community during hearings of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Recent journalistic investigations and articles have reported other allegations of sexual assault, physical, psychological or financial abuse that have left dozens of victims dead. On March 29, 2018, a class action was instituted against the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

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30 March 2018:  “Victims of Father Joveneau Claim $ 300,000 Each” & original French text

29 March 2018:  Class action request filed as 30 alleged victims of sexual abuse come forward

29 March 2018:  “The other oblate was a colleague of Joveneau” & original French text

29 March 2018:  “Rolled in flour by Joveneau” & original French text

23 March 2018:  Quebec religious order apologizes, opens hotline for Innu victims of sexual abuse

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195os – 1992:  La Romaine, Quebec, “promoting Innu traditions while helping to build permanent homes and infrastructure” (Click on images to enlarge):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1971:  Co-authored book:

14 July 1953-22 December 1992:  Unamen Shipu (M)

1971-72:  Pastor, Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church,  Romaine, (Diocese of Labrador-Schefferville) – (CCCD)

1959: LaRomaine (CCCD)

July 1952 – June 1953:  Davis Inlet, Labrador(M)

14  January 1952-03 June 1952:  Moosenee, Ontario (M)

18 February 1951:  ORDAINED

02 October 1945:  Entered Oblates in Belgium (M)

20 March 1926:  Born Tournai, Belgium (M)

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Feds threatened to pull funding from Innu community unless it followed missionary’s plans

APTN National News

Danielle Rochette
APTN News

At the time, Alexis Joveneau was highly regarded in the Innu community of Pakuashipi and La Romaine (Unamen Shipu).The missionary from Belgium had such an effect on the Innu that for years they kept their silence about what he was doing.

Joveneau didn’t just have a hold on the Innu – Canada and the province of Quebec threatened to pull all subsidies from the community if they didn’t follow his plan.

But as it turned out, Joveneau was a sexual predator.

Simone Bellefleur was nine years old when she was abused for the first time by Joveneau.

“Now I notice things what this priest put us through I always felt anger,” said Simone Bellefleur who was nine years old when she was first abused by Joveneau.

He harassed and molested many young Innu girls and women during his years along the northern shores of the St. Lawrence river – with impunity.

Joveneau first arrived in Unamen Shipu in 1953.

The missionary (Oblate) learned the Innu language and translated religious courses and the mass in Innu.

He stayed 39 years and died in 1992.

(Alexis Joveneau in an undated photo)

He is buried in Unamen Shipu.

The government gave him control of the welfare cheques to distribute to the Innu.

Hi plan was to move the Innu of Pakuashipi to Unamen Shipu, 300 km west along the St. Lawrence River.

“I was carrying this anger within me,” Bellefleur told the commissioners. “What frustrated me and angers me today I am a mother I always want to be violent against my daughter.”

Catholicism is still being practiced by many Innu communities today.

But Bellefleur said she decided to take another path after attending a Sundance Ceremony a decade ago.

“That is where I saw the faith of my ancestors my grandparents, grandfathers, grandmothers,” she said. “And now I live my life with these aboriginal beliefs they are part of my life and it has been some ten years that I am following a spiritual path.”

As part of her healing, she also made recommendations to the inquiry.

“I made my recommendation for us to receive a camp with a therapy centre because everyone needs it,” she said.

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Celebrated missionary in Quebec abused Innu girls, inquiry hears

Father Alexis Joveneau was celebrated for his work over four decades among the Innu of northern Quebec, but a string of women now say he groped and abused them as girls.

Toronto Star

Wed., Nov. 29, 2017

In the predominately Innu community of La Romaine, Que., Alexis Joveneau was celebrated, respected, and considered by many to be “Jesus in person,” as one witness recounted.
In the predominately Innu community of La Romaine, Que., Alexis Joveneau was celebrated, respected, and considered by many to be “Jesus in person,” as one witness recounted.  (Screen image from NFB film ‘Gout de la farine’)  

MONTREAL—For most of his adult life and for decades after his death Father Alexis Joveneau was regarded as a religious superstar in Quebec.

But the national inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women has heard from several witnesses who said they were sexually abused over several years by the priest.

In the predominately Innu community of La Romaine, Que., Joveneau was celebrated, respected, and considered by many to be “Jesus in person,” as one witness recounted. He left a much different impression on his victims.

“He mistreated us. He abused us,” said Noelle Mark, 57, who described being touched inappropriately by Joveneau between the ages of about nine and 15.

She was one of two women Wednesday who described going to church for confession and being forced to sit on the priest’s knee and endure his inappropriate touches, rather than kneeling.

“He would stick his tongue in my ear. I remember that for a long time,” Mark said. “I hated that smell—his breath. I smell it now.”

The Belgian-born priest was ordained in 1951 and requested he be sent to Canada with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, an international religious order. He arrived in Quebec’s rugged north coast of the St. Lawrence River and spent nearly four decades living and working among the Innu people until his sudden death in 1992.

It was noted upon his death that Joveneau was fluent in Innu-aimun, the Innu language, and dedicated much of his time to safeguarding the language and translating educational and religious books for Innu readers.The National Film Board produced a 1977 film, Le goût de la farine, which featured the priest talking about the struggles of the Innu of Quebec to maintain their culture and language and battle social problems such as alcoholism.

Most of the obituaries marveled that Father Joveneau had been adopted by the Quebec Innu and would be buried in their cemetery.

Simone Bellefleur said she wanted nothing to do with him and still has trouble entering churches because she associates such buildings with painful memories.

Bellefleur said she endured the same treatment in the confessional and at the priest’s home, where she was often asked to come and wash dishes. Other times, it happened in the company of other girls, she said.

“Often we were together as a group and he would take us each one after the other. I must have been around 15 years old,” Bellefleur said.

Mark said Joveneau would stroke her back in the confessional “all the way to my buttocks.”

“I did not know. I thought that was normal to be touched. No one told me about this type of thing.”

She mentioned the priest’s actions to one of her nine brothers, but he refused to believe her.

“He said I was working for the devil,” Mark said.

She asked the wife of her older brother, who explained that the priest’s actions were inappropriate.

“I started to be afraid. I felt broken. I was torn inside. It really affected me in how I did at school.”

Bellefleur said she was left with a lasting anger and frustration.

“What frustrates me and angers me today is that I am a mother and I always wanted to be violent towards my daughter because I had lived things and I’ve never forgotten those things,” she said.

Mark said she discussed the process of making a complaint against Joveneau with a man who worked at a local nursing station. She said nobody knew how to file a complaint or to whom they should report his activities.

The inquiry heard that there was no permanent police force in La Romaine when the abuse allegedly occurred, in the 1960s and 1970s.

People also feared repercussions if they made accusations against Joveneau.

“The priest was very important. He held an important place,” Mark said.

Both Mark and Bellefleur struggled to tell their stories, fighting back tears, taking long pauses and relying on the support of friends and family.

In a statement released Wednesday, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate said the order was granted official status at the inquiry on Monday in order to help investigate the allegations.

“The Oblates are deeply concerned and distressed after the testimony heard at the inquiry and wish that all the light be shed on these incidents,” the statement said, adding that the order condemns all forms of physical and psychological violence.

A lawyer for the national inquiry urged other women who have suffered abuse or mistreatment at the hands of Joveneau or others in any community to get in contact.

Commissioner Michèle Audette, who is herself Innu, said other Indigenous women were already sending emails, messages and making calls with other allegations of abuse or violence.

“Through your testimony you have already had an effect,” she said.

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‘He broke the values we had’: Innu women at Quebec MMIWG hearing recount priest’s alleged abuse

Belgian missionary Alexis Joveneau worked in remote Innu communities on St. Lawrence shore for decades

CBC News

Posted: Nov 29, 2017 9:10 AM ET    Last Updated: Nov 30, 2017 12:12 AM ET

By Julia Page,

Alexis Joveneau was an Oblate priest who spent decades living among the Innu. The subject of a 1977 NFB documentary, he was long considered 'a god,' according to the testimony of Thérèse Lalo, a witness at the MMIWG inquiry. Several women have testified he sexually abused them as children and teens. Joveneau died in 1992.

Alexis Joveneau was an Oblate priest who spent decades living among the Innu. The subject of a 1977 NFB documentary, he was long considered ‘a god,’ according to the testimony of Thérèse Lalo, a witness at the MMIWG inquiry. Several women have testified he sexually abused them as children and teens. Joveneau died in 1992. (Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec)

Women from Innu communities all along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River shared their stories Wednesday of being sexually abused by a once-lauded Catholic priest who worked in their territory for four decades, until his death in 1992.

The testimony came on the third day of Quebec hearings of the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG), taking place in Mani-Utenam, Que., near Sept-Îles, 900 kilometres northeast of Montreal.

Father Alexis Joveneau arrived in Quebec from Belgium in the early 1950s. He worked in several remote Innu communities for four decades and died in Unaman Shipu, better known as La Romaine, in 1992.

On Tuesday, Innu elder Mary Mark described to the commissioners how Joveneau used to ask her to sit on his lap and start touching her chest when she went to confession.

“I am sure I wasn’t the only one to live that kind of thing — there were others,” said Mark, from the community of Pakua Shipu near the Labrador border.Thérèse Lalo also testified about alleged abuse by Joveneau, saying she never spoke about what she went through until the preliminary hearings of the inquiry visited Pakua Shipu in September.

“I could not talk about it; he was like a god.”

She said he was feared in the community because he was admired, charismatic and had moral authority.

On Wednesday, Simone Bellefleur from Unamen Shipu, 460 kilometres east of Sept-Îles, told commissioners that Alexis Joveneau started abusing her when she was about 10 and didn’t stop until she married at 19.

Simone Bellefleur testified she met a Belgian priest named Alexis Joveneau in Unamen Shipu and he sexually abused her from the age of 10 until she married at 19. (CBC)
“Normally, when we go to confession, we kneel down, but he’d ask us to sit on his lap,” Bellefleur told the inquiry.

“Normally, when we go to confession, we kneel down, but he’d ask us to sit on his lap,” Bellefleur told the inquiry.

“He was behind me, he started touching my breasts and went down towards my hips.”

“Often he’d invite us to do the dishes in his home, to do the same things. Sometimes he’d take us one after the other,” said Bellefleur.

Noella Mark, also from Unamen Shipu, said hearing other women’s testimony about Joveneau on Tuesday took her decades into the past.

“It was almost like he was in the room, that he was here,” said Mark.

“I hated that smell his breath. I smell it now.”

Mark said the abuse started when she was seven and continued until she was 15 or 16.

“I went through the same thing, sat on the priest’s lap, he would stick his tongue in my ear.”

 

Mark said the abuse started when she was seven and continued until she was 15 or 16.

“I went through the same thing, sat on the priest’s lap, he would stick his tongue in my ear.”

Noella Mark

Noella Mark, from Unamen Shipu, Que., participates in a traditional Makusham dance, after sharing her memories of childhood abuse by a once-respected Catholic priest with commissioners at the MMIWG inquiry on Wednesday. (Julia Page/CBC)

Mark said it took her a long time to understand the impact this abuse had on her spirit and said she was filled with anger for a long time.

“I understand abusers now, where it comes from, why they abuse others.”

Priest wielded power
Both women and men who spoke during the hearings described the power Joveneau had over the Innu communities where he worked.

Mark said she never talked about the abuse because “he was considered to be the chief of the village, the head.”

Joveneau was also instrumental in the forced displacement of several families from Pakua Shipu to Unamen Shipu in the 1960s, more than 175 kilometres away.

Ambroise Mark remembered making the trip with Joveneau as a child, arriving in a desolate town with no amenities to house the new families.

Several decided to return to Pakua Shipu after seeing the dismal living conditions on the new reserve.

Ambroise Mark

Ambroise Mark said the forced displacement of his family to Unamen Shipu, Que., in the 1960s should be compensated. (Julia Page/CBC)

Mark said Joveneau punished them, trying to force them out.

“I remember being told there were shipments that never made it to the families, and he tore up cheques for the people of Pakua Shipu,” Mark said.

Deep scars in the community
Simone Bellefleur said today she rarely crosses the threshold of a church, except for weddings or funerals.

“The priest showed us how to fight amongst ourselves. He broke the values we had. He broke us that way,” she said.

Bellefleur admitted the anger she carried since her childhood was sometimes taken out on her children.

It is only recently that she’s managed to heal, she said, along with her husband who she said was also physically abused by Joveneau.

Noella Mark said she, too, has healed only after undergoing therapy.

“That helped me when I told [my father], now no one will touch my body,” Mark said.  “Now I love my body.”

She said Unaman Shipu is shattered, however, and drug and alcohol abuse is rampant.

“We are experiencing lots of problems. We don’t know where to turn to get help.”

Oblates offer ‘full collaboration’
Joveneau was a member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), a congregation founded in France in the early 1800s which sent its first missionaries to Canada in the 19th century.

“The Oblate Fathers are deeply concerned following the testimonies heard during this inquiry and hope light can be shed on these events,” the congregation said in a statement, after the first allegations against Joveneau were raised at the inquiry on Tuesday.

“The Oblate Fathers fiercely hope that the members of the community can testify openly to find peace. We condemn any form of physical or psychological violence.”

The inquiry’s hearings began in Whitehorse in May, and proceedings have taken place in British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Alberta and Saskatchewan so far. Hearings are scheduled for Thunder Bay, Ont., and Nunavut next month, and for Yellowknife in the new year.

The planned stop in Rankin Inlet in December has been postponed, and will now be held in January, CBC News has learned.

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Survey on indigenous women: the allegations against the priest Alexis Joveneau

The Sherbrook Times

29 November 2017

Photo: screen Capture
Simone Bellefleur said to have been sexually assaulted repeatedly by the priest Alexis Joveneau.

Frustrated, sad, and broken, a woman from the community of Unamenshipi, a reserve at the edge of the river Roman, testified Wednesday the pain of living that she has inherited the parish priest Alexis Joveneau, who is said to have sexually assaulted repeatedly, some time in the company of friends.

“I was about 10 and the priest gave us the things,” said the broken voice Simone Bellefleur. “It was in the confessional, normally when we go there, we’d get to her knees. Him, he invited us to sit down on him. What I’m going to tell you, and you heard it yesterday. I experienced the same thing. “

Ms. Bellefleur has admitted to having been seized by a profound anger, when she heard on Tuesday the testimony of Mary Mark, an aboriginal who has lifted the veil on the machinations of the missionary. According to the testimonies delivered in the last two days, the priest Alexis Joveneau has long been perceived as a God in the indigenous community.

“When I saw the news [Radio-Canada] Tuesday night, in their story there was a picture of the father Joveneau that was a sign of the cross to my grandmother on her death bed, that scene, I didn’t like it. A sense of anger overwhelmed me and I realized that I was wearing this frustration for a long time “, mentioned Mrs. Bellefleur.

With the benefit of hindsight, Ms. Bellefleur said to have realized that the pain of living that she has, she has inherited the parish priest Joveneau.

“I’ve never experienced abuse from my parents. Until the age of seven years old, I remember that it was my grandfather who gave me my first lessons “, she told. “The violence, the first time I experienced it came from the good sisters and the pastor. “

Ms. Bellefleur has argued that the father Joveneau often invited a group of young girls to do the dishes.

“It was to do the same thing [in the confessional]. I was not alone, I was with other girls and he would do the same thing at all. We were a gang and we took turns “, she mentioned, wiping away her tears.

The lady is also back on his schooling with the sisters. Often absent or late, she told that she was cutting the nails and hair as punishment.

“I remember we started to laugh at me. It is with the sisters that the teasing between young people started in our community “, she stressed.

46 Responses to Joveneau: Father Alexis Joveneau omi

  1. BC says:

    Le Journal de Montreal will be publishing this weekend it’s investigation into Father Joveneau. It contains disturbing revelations from 20 victims of Joveneau between 1953 and 1992. The newspaper will also publish excerpts from 30 love letters written by Father Joveneau to his own niece. Revelations that Father Joveneau proclaimed himself to be Christ and that he had 12 apostles; that he forced women to marry perfect strangers etc. Once considered by the Oblates as a heroic missionary figure he is now being treated as a scumbag by the Oblates who have retained legal representation… to defend themselves in the matter of their civil liability for… their once so dearly beloved Father Joveneau… who obviously was a pervert according to the Oblates… who surely know their stuff when it comes to perverts.

    source here:
    http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2018/03/23/les-oblats-du-quebec-sexcusent-devant-les-preuves-du-journal

  2. Sylvia says:

    Thanks BC. I truly hope some of the English language media picks up on the le Journal de Montreal coverage.

  3. BC says:

    There`s coverage here; of the Oblates damage control after Le Journal de Montréal’s investigation on their beloved missionary hero Father Joveneau.
    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-religious-order-apologizes-opens-hotline-for-innu-victims-of-sexual-abuse-1.4590085

    Here below is the original coverage for the Oblates missionary hero Father Joveneau who sexually abused his niece Marie-Christine Joveneau at least 200 times while she was visiting him from Belgium. There are excerpts from the 1982 love letters that the Oblate missionary hero Father Joveneau wrote to his niece that substantiate the claims against him. Marie-Christine Joveneau only discovered the letters which had been hidden by her mother after her mother`s death in 2011.

    http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2018/03/24/agressee-chaque-jour-par-son-oncle

  4. BC says:

    So here`s an excerpt of what Oblate missionary hero figure Father Joveneau wrote to his niece after he had sexually assaulted her 200 times; on Holy Saturday April 10th 1982:

    Quote:
    I think of you every time I see a new landscape, whenever I see a new horizon, and when I see a beautiful thing I share with you within my heart. I tried to give you the best of me and I`ve got a lot of things to say to you… to listen to you. My lips caress your lips and taste your tenderness profoundly.
    End of quote

    http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2018/03/24/agressee-chaque-jour-par-son-oncle

  5. BC says:

    Here is an Office national du film (du Canada)/National Film Board of Canada film in french from 1977 featuring Oblate Father Alexis Joveneau who certainly deserved an Oscar for best foreign documentary for his incredibly convincing performance in a leading role as an advocate for native rights; human rights activist; and connoisseur of all things native in general. It was only a role of course.
    Oblate Father Alexis Joveneau didn’t actually care about natives. https://www.onf.ca/film/gout_de_la_farine/

  6. Suzanne Herrick-Lee says:

    Being from Belgium, was this pervert related to the other pervert, Dejaeger?????

  7. BC says:

    More Journal de Montreal coverage of Oblate missionary hero figure Father Alexis Joveneau. Of course since the Oblates have lawyered-up and retained the services of a public relations firm to damage control their association with their brother missionary hero figure Father Alexis; the Oblates have been representing publicly during the last couple of days that their Oblate missionary hero figure was actually a pervert.

    So here are the links, Sylvia. It`s in french. But it`s sickening and I`m not gonna translate it for you… Perhaps you`ll get the gist of it with AI translation…? Testimony of a young boy being raped on the day of his first communion by Oblate missionary hero figure Father Alexis Joveneau; of forced marriages performed by Oblate missionary hero figure Father Alexis Joveneau; of organized deportations of whole communities by Oblate missionary hero figure Father Alexis Joveneau; of his whitholding public income support (i.e. welfare etc) from natives who refused to obey him. etc. etc. etc.

    http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2018/03/25/joveneau-et-ottawa-avaient-un-plan-machiavelique-de-deportation

    http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2018/03/24/il-agressait-sexuellement-les-innus-au-nom-de-dieu

  8. Sylvia says:

    Both are now ‘translated’ via Google) and posted:

    25 March 2018: “Joveneau and Ottawa had a Machiavellian deportation plan” & original French text

    24 March 2018: “He sexually assaulted the Innu in the name of God” & original French text

    The translation, as always, is not the greatest. Some sentences are really a bit of a mess – but, ……………………..they are posted and I do believe people will get the gist of the perversion and depravity of this wolf in sheep’s clothing.

    (I see that at the tail end of today’s article there are those who defend Joveneau. )

  9. BC says:

    Your A.I. translations are fine Sylvia. The core of these tragedies are being communicated.

    It’s worth mentioning that in the CBC Mar 23 coverage of this story (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-religious-order-apologizes-opens-hotline-for-innu-victims-of-sexual-abuse-1.4590085)
    by representing that they are now “determined to enforce a zero-tolerance policy”, the Oblate Fathers have effectively allocuted to having tolerated clerical abuse by not enforcing their zero tolerance policy already in place. Which means that the Oblates have been tolerating the presence of clerical abusers and their crimes within their ranks until March 2018.

    • Leona says:

      Thanks so much for pointing that out, B.C. I’m laughing at the irony of it all. Nothing those of us who experienced abuse by Oblates didn’t know already.

    • bc says:

      … your editing app timed out before I could finish…!
      The audio of the hidden camera footage where the journalists are assaulted by a disturbingly agressive Oblate in the residence where Father Joveneau is residing clearly indicates that the Oblates are fully aware that there is a Canadian arrest warrant for Father Rivoire. And this Oblate, who has anger issues, adds that they do not care about no arrest warrant against nobody. The Oblate says:- if they want him (Rivoire), they (the cops) can come and get him. -Journalists aren`t welcomed here.

      Personally, I`m thinking that the Oblate Superior who apologized to the journalists for the assault was much more concerned about the revelations that the Oblates do in fact hide and protect wanted suspects in cases of clerical abuse.

  10. BC says:

    This morning Le Journal de Montreal is asking if the Oblates in Belgium protected Father Joveneau. Journalists went to Strasbourg France to investigate why the Oblates are hiding Father Rivoire… but an Oblate at that residence Father Littner violently expelled the journalist from the residence where Father Rivoire is living. His superior, Father Gruber later contacted the journalists to apologize for the assault. There is video of the event on the Journal de Montreal`s webpage of this story.

    Father Luc Tardiff who is the Oblates of Québec Superior admitted that there had been Oblate perverts who had managed to hide in Oblate retirement residences. Father Joveneau first arrived in Moosonee in northern Ontario. He was quickly transferred to Davis Inlet Labrador. There are reports that he had victimized one person in Labrador before being transferred to Québec`s north shore.

    source here:
    http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2018/03/26/le-pere-joveneau-a-t-il-ete-cache-au-quebec-par-les-oblats-deurope

  11. Sylvia says:

    It’s posted now BC:

    26 March 2018: Was Father Joveneau hidden in Quebec by the Oblates of Europe? & original French text

    Unfortunately I wasn’t able to nab the video clip 🙁 I could get the entire commercial, but then it cuts. So I suggest that those who would like to view the clip of reporters in Strasbourg confronting Oblates re Father Rivoire click here for the Le Journal de Montreal wesbsite and article and scroll down to view.

    Disgusting, is it not?

    And, as we all know all too well, the Oblates tucked fugitive Eric Dejaeger away for years in Belgium.

    No conscience. No shame. No concern for the safety and well-being of children. No regard for justice.

  12. Baspuits says:

    Any place where there is a priest/rev for over 30 years in the same parish, these story will come out! See also Cap Pelée and father Camille Legere…

    We see a lot of places of abuse were/ are in the confessional.
    Same confessional as one has to go through since 2015!

    Same treatment, silence, and may I scream this is against 1981 revised in 1983 laws on child abuse reporting, here in New Brunswick!
    If they want to practice a religion, please fallow the law of the land!!!
    If they need a lawsuits judgement to change …..So be it!!!
    (Over 65 and counting awaiting a court date in Cap Pelée)

    No religion should be above the law!

    Baspuits

  13. BC says:

    This morning Le Journal de Montreal continues it`s coverage of the abuse of Oblate Father Alexis Joveneau with testimonies of forced marriage designed by Father Joveneau to consolidate his total control over his flock.
    http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2018/03/27/le-pere-joveneau-organisait-des-mariages-forces-entre-innus

    Columnist Claude Villeneuve writes about the Oblates as traitors who enslaved these native communities. http://www.journaldequebec.com/2018/03/27/la-trahison-des-peres

    The Oblate Fathers were operating a cult within the Church on Québec`s north shore.
    This Oblate cult destroyed the lives of hundreds of natives and the effects of this destructive Oblate cult will continue for generations, while the Oblates sit back in their confortable retirement homes and live off the interests of the fortunes that they amassed in the name of the Immaculate Virgin Mary.

  14. Sylvia says:

    Thanks as always BC. I am just now about to start the google translation process 🙂 As soon as it is done I will pass on the word.

  15. Sylvia says:

    The article is posted:

    27 March 2018: “Father Joveneau organized forced marriages between Innu” & original French text

    I deplore the fact that these young people were forced into marriage by a priest, but am intrigued to read that in both examples cited the couples remain married after 50 + years. Amazing, no? Congratulations to both couples who, it seems, despite all odds, have stayed together.

    I fear that rather than show Father Joveneau for wolf in sheep’s clothing that he was this will re-inforce the opinion of those who still think he walked on water.

    • northern fancy says:

      Sylvia: I am not sure it should be assumed that congratulations are in order for the long term “forced marriages”. The woman may well have had no options but to remain in the relationship. At least that is what I was often told.

  16. BC says:

    Le Journal de Montréal`s coverage of Oblate missionary Father Alexis Joveneau continues this morning with a report that Marie-Christine Joveneau, the Oblate missionary`s niece who was sexually assaulted 200 times by her Oblate uncle would want to meet Prime Minister Trudeau before she returns to Belgium.

    http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2018/03/28/la-niece-du-pere-joveneau-veut-rencontrer-justin-trudeau

  17. Sylvia says:

    It’s posted:

    28 March 2018: “Father Joveneau’s niece wants to meet Justin Trudeau” & original French text

    I kept checking to see if I was missing half of the article, but, no, it seems this is it. I full anticipated information regarding the repeated sex assaults of the 21-year-old niece. Perhaps there is a sequel to this?

    Strange.

    • BC says:

      LCN, one of Québec`s network news channel aired an interview with Oblate Father Joveneau’s niece last Monday (March 26) at 7PM & 9PM. It was re-aired by it`s parent cable channel TVA at 10:35 PM. The interview was conducted by Denis Lévesque who has a rather large viewer audience in Québec. Both LCN and TVA content are made available online usually soon after it aired on cable/satellite. Le Journal de Montreal is the largest-circulating newspaper in Quebec and the highest-circulating French-language daily newspaper in North America. LCN, TVA and Le Journal de Montréal are all owned by Pierre-Karl Péladeau who is the CEO of Quebecor Inc., Quebecor Media Inc. and Sun Media Corporation. Hopefully his anglo media properties will run these stories, eh? (!)

  18. BC says:

    This morning Le Journal de Québec is reporting that the Innu community on Québec`s north shore is in talks with former MMIWG commission lawyer Alain Arseneault to sue the Oblates for their negligence in the matter of Oblate Father Joveneau

    http://www.journaldequebec.com/2018/03/28/la-communaute-veut-poursuivre-les-oblats

    • Sylvia says:

      Here it is:

      29 March 2018: “The community wants to sue the Oblates” & original French text

      Unfortunately Quebec law re suing is more rigid than that most other Canadian provinces. There is a statute of limitations in Quebec, and permission has to be sought of and given by a judge to proceed. I don’t recall offhand what the time frame is initiate civil action in Quebec after abuse, but I think it’s a matter of only a few years? In light of all that is now known about the severe impact of sexual abuse on child victims and the almost invariable prolonged delay in reporting I would hope this law will change in the very near future.

      • BC says:

        In Québec the statute of limitations of civil actions for sexual offences is up to 30 years. There being no statute of limitations on criminal offences, it`s possible that (living) Oblates who were criminally involved with Father Joveneau could be prosecuted (although that`s not foreseeable according to me)

  19. BC says:

    Le Devoir looking at how the pro Oblate propaganda film featuring Oblate Father Alexis Joveneau was used to deceive it`s audience on what was actually going on.

    (note Sylvia: Le goût de la farine (i.e. the taste of flower) is the title of one of the Oblate propaganda films featuring Father Joveneau. Roulés dans la farine (i.e. the title of this Le Devoir piece) is slang for being conned)

    https://www.ledevoir.com/opinion/chroniques/523901/roules-dans-la-farine-par-joveneau

  20. Sylvia says:

    I don’t think I would have noticed BC. The saying is foreign to me so no difference whether “flower” or “flour” 🙁 Glad you corrected 🙂

    The article is posted: 29 March 2018: “Rolled in flour by Joveneau” & original French text

    Alas, in this instance the google translation is a bit of a disaster.

    I also posted a link to the documentary. Here it is. I have been skipping my way through. Unfortunately I don’t understand a word, but find it interesting to see Joveneau, and watch his interactions with the native people, – and cringe every time I see a child.

    From what I can deduce, without benefit of understanding one word, he was quite charming, eh?

    Is that his niece?

  21. BC says:

    Le Journal de Montréal reporting that the approximately 30 persons have instigated a civil class action against the Oblates. This civil action also names a former Oblate Father who worked with Father Joveneau; Omer Provencher

    http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2018/03/29/les-innus-poursuivent-les-oblats-de-marie-immaculee have instigated a civil class action against the Oblates.

  22. BC says:

    Apologies from the Oblates aren`t enough – says Viviane Michel who is the President of Québec Native Women group.

    http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2018/03/29/les-excuses-des-oblats-ne-suffisent-pas-selon-la-presidente-de-femmes-autochtones-du-quebec

  23. BC says:

    Le Journal de Montréal publishing it`s 15th story on Oblate Fathers Alexis Joveneau, Oblate Father Joannes Rivoire who is being cared for by his peers in France and former Oblate Father Omer Provencher who was named in a civil action last week.

    In this story, Innu women met with Marie-Christine Joveneau in Québec city yesterday to talk about the great need for Innu communities on Québec`s north shore to receive support to help them.

    http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2018/04/02/les-innus-ne-veulent-pas-etre-abandonnes

  24. BC says:

    CTV Montréal coverage (in English with video) of the class action request against the Oblates :

    https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/class-action-request-filed-as-30-alleged-victims-of-sexual-abuse-come-forward-1.3865229

  25. BC says:

    Le Devoir reporting this morning that the National Film Board of Canada is now publishing a warning to viewers regarding it`s films featuring Oblate Father Alexis Joveneau. The NFB produced five films featuring Father Joveneau: Attiuk (1960), Ka Ke Ki Ku (1960), Le goût de la farine (1977), Le pays de la terre sans arbre ou le Mouchouânipi(1980) and La grande allure II (1985). Sadly for Father Joveneau’s victims these films contributed to his good reputation as they represented him as an advocate for native rights. The NFB`s warning recaps the testimonies given last November, the media coverage and the class action instigated against the Oblates.

    https://www.ledevoir.com/societe/524356/mot-cle-l-onf-et-l-affaire-du-pere-joveneau

    NFB`s webpage for Le goût de la farine with NFB`s warning regarding Father Joveneau:
    https://www.nfb.ca/film/gout_de_la_farine/

  26. BC says:

    Here is the link for Attiuk, a 1960 NFB short film featuring Oblate Missionary Alexis Joveneau. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVCrKhGdhJQ He appears around the 7 minute mark of this film. The narration of this film was designed to make the Innu sound like noble savages and to make it appear that Father Joveneau was their loving and humble servant.
    And here are it’s full film credits and a description of it in English:
    http://www.screenculture.org/cesif/film/attiuk

  27. BC says:

    Here is APTN coverage of last November in English of another tragedy involving Father Joveneau: disturbing testimony of vanishing babies.

    http://aptnnews.ca/2017/11/29/sexual-abuse-and-vanishing-babies-in-pakuashipi/

    Radio-Canada’s flagship news program Enquêtes aired coverage of these terribly sad disappearances and deaths in 2015
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR-wYQSRiYo

  28. bc says:

    Le Journal de Montréal reporting that the Innu of Unamen Shipu are planning to remove the buried remains of Oblate Father Alexis Joveneau from their cemetery in upcoming weeks and give them to the Oblates. Father Joveneau`s own niece who was also one of his victims says that she would be coming back (from Belgium) to be present for this event. More victims of Father Joveneau have joined the class action against the Oblates. Unamen Shipu`s community health center is overwhelmed with requests for psychological support .
    http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2018/04/13/des-victimes-veulent-deterrer-le-monstre-de-la-cote-nord

  29. bc says:

    Le Journal de Québec’s Karina Marceau blogs about her meeting with a devout catholic Innu woman; Rachel (no last name provided) who despite all of the events that were recently exposed in her community of Unamen Shipu practices her faith. Although she does concede that masses which used to be packed events are now only attended by a very few, 10 or so people. Rachel attributes this decline directly to the clerical abuse scandal that has rocked her community. Rachel also explains that her community only is served by a priest two weeks per month; and she wishes that it could be served by a priest every day..

    http://www.journaldequebec.com/2018/04/16/je-veux-un-pretre-dans-ma-communaute-malgre-tout

  30. bc says:

    New book out regarding Oblate Father Joveneau`s crimes on Québec`s Côte Nord.
    Title: Le Diable de la Côte Nord (translation: The Devil of the North Shore)

    There is also a class action which was filed in July 2019 against 30+ Oblate missionaries. So far, 144 victims have joined the class.
    class action:
    https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2019/07/27/encore-plus-de-religieux-vises-pour-des-agressions-sexuelles

    book:
    https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2019/10/27/un-diable-regnait-sur-des-villages-de-la-cote-nord

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