Archdiocese Says It Will Help Father Joe Leclair Return to Work

By Andrew Duffy
Ottawa Citizen
January 20, 2014

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Archdiocese+says+will+help+Father+LeClair+return+work/9408255/story.html

The Archdiocese of Ottawa has opened the door to Father Joe LeClair’s eventual return to the pulpit.

The charismatic priest, universally known as Father Joe, pleaded guilty in an Ottawa courtroom Monday to fraud and theft charges: he admitted pocketing money from the collection plate and taking other church revenues to feed a runaway gambling addiction.

Archbishop Terrence Prendergast issued a statement after LeClair entered his plea, making it clear the Catholic Church will welcome him back as an active priest once his criminal sentence is served.

A sentencing hearing is to continue Tuesday to determine LeClair’s penalty.

“Aware of his many talents and of his 25 years of effective pastoral ministry, we will work with Fr. LeClair in his desire to return to the exercise of his priestly ministry,” Prendergast said.

“Despite this difficult decision affecting Fr. LeClair’s life, I know that he is relieved to have this painful moment behind him. I share his desire, and that of the many people who supported him over the last two years, to move on and to look to the future.”

Many parishioners at LeClair’s former parish, Blessed Sacrament, were angered by the archbishop’s decision to lodge a formal police complaint against LeClair. Prendergast defended that decision Monday:

“For a number of reasons, including the need of our Catholic Church to be transparent about such matters and to resolve what had become a highly publicized matter, the decision was made to refer this issue to the police with the expectation that the case would be treated fairly and thoroughly.”

LeClair’s transgressions were first made public by the Citizen in April 2011, when the newspaper published a story detailing LeClair’s casino gambling and the $490,000 in credit card bills that he racked up over two years. The newspaper also revealed that Blessed Sacrament had few financial controls over how money was handled at the church.

Collection money, kept in bags in the rectory, was often not counted for days. LeClair could write cheques to himself without a counter-signature from church accounts and he did not have to submit receipts to have a cheque approved.

In the weeks that followed publication of the story, LeClair admitted to a gambling problem but repeatedly denied ever taking money from the church.

At the time, LeClair claimed he used his own money to gamble and won enough to keep himself financially stable.

He denounced the newspaper from the pulpit and offered blessings to those who cancelled their subscriptions.

Gerry Nott, now a senior executive with Postmedia, was publisher and editor-in-chief of the Citizen when the LeClair story broke. Nott said Monday that the “sad story of Father Joe’s troubles has come to its rightful conclusion.”

He used the occasion to praise those sources who helped the Citizen expose financial malfeasance at the church, a registered charity.

“It took a great deal of bravery from those who spoke out and could not stand to see a man they had placed so much faith in take advantage of those he trusted,” Nott said.

“While there is no sense of vindication for the Citizen, I’m immensely proud of the work done here to bring this issue to light. Hundreds of subscribers left the paper over our coverage and believed we were wrong. I wouldn’t change a thing about how the story was covered.”

In January 2012, the diocese put in place strict new rules for the handling of church money. They require that “tamper evident bags” be used to store Sunday collections and that all cheques be counter-signed.

With files from Meghan Hurley