Father William White (Father Bill White)
also seems to be one and the same as Father V. White csc
Father Vallery White
Priest Archdiocese of Edmonton, Alberta. Ordained 1954. GUILTY plea 1991
Seems he was initially ordained as a priest for the order known as the Congregation of the Holy Cross, also known as Brothers of the Holy Cross or Holy Cross Fathers (csc). In the early directories he is listed as V. White csc. In the 193-74 directory he is listed as “Valery White.” I believe it is him in 1980-82 in Lloydminister, Alberta as William White, and in ’85-’86 he is listed as such at St. Matthew’s in Edmonton with date of ordination 1954. From then to the present he is listed as William White. V. White aside I can find no other Father White ordained in 1954 who taught at a Catholic school in Welland Ontario. I am quite certain it is him.
Witness timelines below. Where was he in the early 70s? Why did he leave the Congregations of the Holy Cross to become incardinated in the Archdiocese of Edmonton Alberta? (Bishop Joseph MacNeil was Archbishop of Edmonton from 02 July 1973 to 07 June 1999.)
Why is he now listed as William White when he was initially listed as V. White or Vallery White? What is his full name?
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21 April 2010: Scots hoops tradition is legendary
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Unless otherwise indicated the following dates and information are drawn from available Canadian Catholic Church Directories (CCCD) of the same date, media (M) and personal contacts (PC).
2012: living at Villa Vianney – home for retired priests in Archdiocese of Edmonton (P)
2011: not listed (CCCD) but told that he lives at Villa Vianney in Edmonton Alberta, which is located at the Edmonton Pastoral Center and is between an onsite daycare (Primrose Place) and St. Kevin’s school (P)
1992 – 2010: address and phone number that of Archdiocese of Edmonton Diocesan Centre
1991: GUILTY plea (M) – suspended sentence and three years probation (M)
Pastor, St. Agnes Church, Edmonton, Alberta (CCCD)
November 1990: removed from duties at St. Agnes when investigation began (M)
1988: St. Agnes, Edmonton, Alberta (M)
1982-88: St. Matthew’s Roman Catholic Church, Edmonton, Alberta (M)
1985-1986: Pastor, St. Matthew’s Roman Catholic Church, Edmonton, Alberta (CCCD)
1980-1982: Pastor, St. Anthony’s, Lloydminster, Alberta http://www.lloydminster.net/churchrc.htm
1975-1977: Basketball coach at Archbishop Jordan Catholic High School, Sherwood Park, Alberta (see link above) I have been told that he was also Principal of the school. (How many years was he Principal and/or coaching at the school? Does anyone know?)
(At some point in time, according to media, he also served as an assistant coach of the boys and girls teams at Archbishop O’Leary Catholic high school. There is no indication of when.)
1973- 74: listed as “Vallery White”, with address in Sherwood Park, Alberta (265 First Street, Sherwood Park) (CCCD)
1971-1972: not listed in directory (CCCD)
1967-71: according to “Rick”, was Athletic Director at St.Thomas University in Fredericton and resided at Holy Cross House
1967, 1968-69: V. White csc ordained 1954 – Holy Cross Seminary, Welland, Ontario (Congregation of the Holy Cross) (Provincial of the Canadian English Province: Father Robert P. McInroy, St. Catharine’s Ontario) (CCCD)
1963-’66: eventually charged and (M) convicted for a series of “sexual touching” incidents at “a Catholic high school in Welland”
1959: Notre Dame College School, Welland, Ontario (listed as V. White csc, ordained 18 December 1954) (M) the school is administered by the Congregation of the Holy Cross.
18 December 1954: ORDAINED
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July 19, 1991 00.39 EDT
Canadian Press
EDMONTON (CP)
The future of an Edmonton Roman Catholic priest guilty of indecent assault is now in the hands of Archbishop Joseph MacNeil and the archdiocese’s sexual abuse committee.
Rev. Bill White, formerly of St. Agnes Parish in Edmonton, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Ontario provincial court, according to a news release issued by the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton.
The committee members will spend the next month investigating how or if White should be reprimanded.
“We could advise that he not be allowed to re-enter the church in any capacity, or, what’s more likely, that there be some form of reintegration,” committee chairman Fred Day said Wednesday.
But Day said there’s always the possibility White, who’s now in his early 60s, would resign before church officials have finished their deliberations.
The charge was laid in May over a series of what police called sexual touching incidents between 1963 and 1966 at a Catholic high school in Welland, 80 kilometres south of Toronto.
White was a teacher and basketball coach at the school and the victim, now 44 and living in British Columbia, was a student.
White received a suspended sentence with three years probation, the sentence recommended by both Crown and defence lawyers.
White was removed from his public duties at St. Agnes in November 1990 when the police investigation began.
Day said committee members will wrestle with questions such as what level of contact with the public White should have, including whether he should ever be allowed to be alone with teenaged boys.
MacNeil is out of the province until the end of the month and was not available for comment.
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Catholics shocked as priest charged; `Exemplary’ cleric accused of sex offences
Edmonton Journal
May 7, 1991
BOB GILMOUR Journal Staff Writer
Edmonton
Edmonton Roman Catholics have reacted with shock, anger, sadness and disappointment after an “exemplary” city priest was charged with two sex offences in Ontario.
Father William White, priest of St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church at 10826 62nd Ave., has been charged by Ontario Provincial Police with gross indecency and sexual assault over alleged incidents with a male Catholic high school student in Welland, Ont., between 1963 and 1966.
The incidents are alleged to have occurred while White was a teacher and basketball coach at the high school in Welland, which is near Niagara Falls.
“My reaction is one of disbelief and shock,” Ted Jason, chairman of the St. Agnes parish council, said Monday.
He described White, priest of the south Edmonton parish from the summer of 1988 until last November when he was relieved of duties pending the outcome of the Ontario police probe, as an “exemplary” priest in his pastoral duties.
“I never met a finer priest or a finer man,” added Ken Graham, chairman of St. Matthew’s Roman Catholic parish at 13131 86th St., where White previously served from 1982 to 1988.
“We remember him very well. I think he’ll be vindicated. I don’t think the man is capable of doing anything of that nature. All the parishioners of St. Matthew’s are behind him 100 per cent.”
Graham said White, now in his early 60s, did a lot for schools in his area, especially in basketball. He was apparently an assistant coach of the boys and girls teams at Archbishop O’Leary Catholic high school.
“I was very disappointed,” Bob Dupuis, 64, a St. Agnes parishioner since 1954, said Monday of the filing of criminal charges against his priest.
“I felt let down we because didn’t expect something like this to happen. We’re all very sorry to hear this and we hope for the best and we’ll continue praying this will be dropped.
“This man was very good to us in the parish and he meant a lot to us while he was here and we didn’t think this would ever happen.”
“We feel quite bad about it,” added Eugene Holwen, a St. Agnes parishioner since 1956.
“I worked with him . . . He was a great guy to work with.”
Holwen thinks “most of the parishioners were upset” last November when White was relieved of his duties pending the results of the Ontario police investigation.
“We don’t think it (charges) should have been laid — it being so long ago. I think it should have been overlooked.”
Bill Hopchin, a member of the St. Agnes parish council, said he was angry the charges were laid 25 or 30 years after the alleged incidents. He said there should be a time limitation in laying charges.
“I think it’s kind of outrageous. I think it’s ridiculous.”
Added a woman member of the St. Agnes parish council: “I think it’s horrible. We’re all in shock.”
“To say it’s a disappointment is an understatement,” said Rev. John Hamilton, chancellor of the Edmonton archdiocese.
“There seems to be almost an element of unfairness. The name of the accused is published but not that of the complainant.”
He said White is staying in Edmonton with friends. “He’s bearing up as well as could be expected under the circumstances.
“But his good name is finished now, even if the charges are dropped, or dismissed, or he’s found not guilty. He’s still tainted.”
My family knew Fr. White for about 15 yrs. The best homilist I have ever heard! He was chaplain of our CFM group and around our children all the time. There was no hint of anything unacceptable in his behaviour. My teenage son worked in the parish office about ten ft from Fr’s suite. He said nothing ever happened that wld be even questionable. I thought we Christians, Catholics especially were about forgiveness and new chances. He was a young man and made a mistake. Because we could not forgive, the people of God lost a great teacher and pastor. Forgive the man who came forward after 25 years for he knew not what caused.
Dear Mrs. McLaughlin: You mauled a text from holy scripture in a most disgraceful manner. You are not asking for forgiveness for the person who came forward. You are minimizing, blaming and shaming this person. Support your cleric friend without demeaning the person who came forward. I appeal for civil conduct, if nothing else, please.
Bertha McLaughlin: You confuse me.
As far as I can tell afer FATHER Whyte would have been in his 40s or 50s when he was caught the first time.
Who then are you saying was “a young man” who made “a mistake”? Father Whyte? or the boyS – plural – who were molested by Father Whyte?
As for “a mistake” – is this your notion of the 18 counts of indecent assault and one of attempted indecent assault on several altar boys on which this Roman Catholic priest was convicted?
“A” mistake?
Are you really living in La La Land?
It’s people who think as you do who make life awfully difficult for victims. And, it’s people who think as you do who enable Church authorities to recycle known molesters with such abandon.
1yellowknife is right. Never mind demeaning the victims. They have had more than their share of heartache, and shame, and pain and humiliation.
Ms. McLaughlin:
Did you just ask God to forgive the VICTIM of a horrible crime perpetrated by a man presenting himself as a representative of the good Lord himself? Did you just put Catholics above all other Christians in the seeking/granting of forgiveness? Did you just say there should be forgiveness for a man who acknowledged his sin only after decades of hiding it, and was only revealed by a police investigation? Did you just ask where forgiveness was for a man who refused to ask for the forgiveness which you claim he should be entitled to, refused to acknowledge his crimes and his victim(s), and refused to do the “penance” that we as a society require through the administration of justice until it was forced upon him?
I don’t see anywhere in the articles above where it says “we” could not forgive. Instead of forgiving, perhaps you meant forgetting about it, letting it go and not saying anything. Those are completely different. Perhaps his victim(s) have forgiven him; I do not know. Perhaps he has asked for and received God’s forgiveness; I do not know. None of this has anything to do with the charges that were laid and to which he plead guilty. Many victims have the strength and the courage to both forgive their abusers and to see justice done. That is incredible.
Oh and one thing you should know: Your teenage son saying nothing ever happened to him means 1) it doesn’t mean it wasn’t happening right under his nose without him noticing, and 2) it doesn’t mean nothing ever happened to him. It doesn’t mean anything did but I know personally victims who will go to their grave saying exactly the same. They have their own reasons, but it doesn’t make it true and it doesn’t absolve their abuser.
I am sorry you lost the religious services of ” a great homilist” but I am much, much sorrier for the victim(s) of this man. (Please do remember he plead guilty.) I understand how hard such a thing is to process when a family friend is revealed in such a manner but please, blaming a victim is anything but right. The crime lay with Mr. White and not the boy(s) he assaulted and victimized. If it took them 25 years to come forward then so be it. I suspect you have no idea the damage that can be done when a child is harmed in such a way.
I hope you are able to accept my comments with an open mind and give some thought to them rather than just dismissing them out of hand.
Dear Mrs. McLaughlin,
Thank you for your comments, they are a gift to me – a real gift in this healing journey. You have re-inspired my desire to continue to speak and share my story.
I hear your desire to maintain your vision of the church and its priests as an important force for good in this world. I see you are very hurt by attacks against it, and especially your friend Fr. White. His words likely gave you faith and courage in times of difficulty in your life. You were most likely proud that in the challenging world of raising teenagers that your son was working at the church, a safe haven from all the temptations of the secular world. You are saddened that you lost a “great teacher and pastor”. Wherever you are in your life now you most likely look to those words of wisdom that you heard so long ago and somewhere in your soul you find yourself questioning your faith.
I do not know Fr. White, but as a survivor of abuse of another priest who served in the Edmonton diocese for a time Fr. Jack McCann, I know how difficult it is for survivors to come forward with their experiences in order to bring truth and justice back into the church. It was only when I realized that Jack McCann was starting a youth group on Saltspring Island that I decided to go to the police, knowing that it would turn my families lives and a community that I belonged to (I was a Catholic School Teacher, choir director and organist) upside down. On this forum I call myself proud survivor, yet I still feel shame when I run into someone from the church I grew up in. Twenty years later, I still find myself blaming myself for “telling”. If I hadn’t told, the congregation could continue to believe that McCann was a good man, they could hold on to the belief that the church offered everything they needed to protect them from the evils of this consumerist worldly existence.
I AM NOT SORRY! I needed to do what I did, not only for myself, but also for the congregation and people like you! I needed to tell, because without telling, McCann would most likely continue to take advantages of the families who invited him into their lives, by raping their daughters. He would continue to stand at the pulpit on a Sunday morning preaching his words of faith and wisdom and then go off for a drive with a young girl in need of counselling and support and instead of giving her what she needed robbing her of her innocence. I AM NOT SORRY! I do not want your prayers or your forgiveness. I have not done wrong in telling my truth. Save your prayers for yourself. Ask for the wisdom and strength to confront the evils within the church and work to support those who seek the truth! Remember John 8:32” Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Patrick and proudsurvivor……….The silence is deafening no longer…..The applause from your courage is!!!!!
Stay strong,
Stay vocal,
John
Thank you!
Patrick and proudsurvivor, under trying circumstances you each speak with simplicty and eloquence. My congratulations to you both!
I knew Father White when I was a student at St. Thomas University, Fredericton in the late 1960’s early 1970’s. Seemed like a good guy.
I would like to thankyou for this post. Though I am not a religious person, My mother is, and though this had happened before my birth, my Mother and Father had been married by this man, and in finding this blog and having her read about the man who had married her and my father, it has brought her closure on the divorce of her marriage. With the belief that a corrupted man like him lead to the corrupted marriage that would not be approved in Gods eyes.
I knew Fr. verily White very well. He was Athletic Director at St.Thomas University in Fredericton which I attended from 67-71. I lived in the same residence Holy Cross House . I knew all the residents quite well and there was not a better person than Fr. White. I never heard a word against him and am absolutely certain the accusations were false. What a shame for such a fine man.
For goodness sake Rick, he entered a guilty plea! A wolf in sheep’s clothing. He fooled you too.
I understand many good people are shock, hurt, and even sadden when a priest they knew, cared for and trusted is not what a REAL priest should be.
Sadly, remaining in the state of denial will not be constructive only destructive in the long run.
Survivors of clergy abuse, betrayal and their supporters will NOT back down.
They will work hard on staying strong by standing their ground for justice.
A big thank you Sylvia for all you do.
Lina
Amen to that Lina.
I attended Archbishop Jordan school from 1970 to 1976. Fr. White was principal there from about 1972 until I graduated in 1976. He was heavily involved in the school’s boys basketball team and rumours about inappropriate behavior from Fr White was talked about constantly. I found him to be quite arrogant and it was known by everyone that he didn’t like the girl students and that his pets were on the boys basketball team. I personally wonder if there was pedophile behavior from Fr White even them