BishopAccountability.org
	Alleged Molester Left Priesthood By Eva Hoare The Chronicle-Herald January 26, 2011 http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1224136.html The former Yarmouth priest charged Monday with sexually abusing three boys decades ago wanted to "break free" from his vows when he resigned from the Roman Catholic Church in 1973, and there was no indication he was in any trouble. Albert LeBlanc, who became a probation officer in 1975 in western Nova Scotia, told church officials he had found fulfilment in his new role, said Marilyn Sweet, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Halifax. "It was at his own request," Sweet said in an interview. "When he was asking to be set free from priesthood, it was believed he could lead a good life as a lay person." LeBlanc, now 81, went through a process known as laicization, commonly known as defrocking. But he was never asked to leave the priesthood, Sweet said. He had been well regarded within the church community and there was no record of any questionable behaviour. "He was well spoken of," said Sweet. Yarmouth resident Joseph Bishara was still reeling Tuesday after learning that the priest he'd served as an altar boy now faces 40 charges of sexual abuse. "That's not the Father Albert LeBlanc I knew," Bishara said. "It's unbelievable when it hits home like that." A retired teacher, Bishara was also one of several boys who accompanied the former priest on a hockey trip to Boston in the late 1960s. Bishara says he never saw anything offside about LeBlanc's behaviour. Yarmouth RCMP arrested LeBlanc Jan. 6 in Bouctouche, N.B., where he resides, and he will appear in court in Yarmouth on March 15. He faces 40 counts of sex abuse, including 11 indecent assaults against a young male and another 29 charges of gross indecency against other boys. RCMP spokeswoman Sgt. Brigdit Leger wouldn't say how many of the three boys were allegedly victims of gross indecency. The boys were aged seven to 11 when the offences allegedly happened. The charges span from alleged incidents beginning in 1970 and stretching until 1985, and the investigation involving these three alleged victims has concluded, Leger said Tuesday. Laicization, meaning returning to the lay state, was very common in the '70s when the church was changing, but it isn't as frequent now, said Sweet. Some Internet sites said other reasons a priest might be laicized would be the result of criminal convictions or a scandal. Many sites say some priests ask for the decree so they can marry. LeBlanc's request would have gone to the bishop and then been sent to Rome for dispensation, said Sweet. He wasn't laicized until 1975, and it isn't clear whether any of the charges stem from LeBlanc's time as a priest at the Notre Dame de Fatima Church in Yarmouth. Contact: ehoare@herald.ca
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.