Forgive and forget: Ottawa priest welcomed back to church he stole thousands from

In January, Father Joseph LeClair was sentenced to a year in jail after pleading guilty to fraud and theft charges. The “beloved” Ottawa priest had stolen more than $130,000 from church accounts and Sunday collections.

LeClair, a diagnosed pathological gambler, admitted the thefts were to help fund his gambling addiction.

Having been recently released from jail early for good behaviour — the parole board told LeClair they found him “remorseful" for his actions and the hurt he caused others — LeClair is being welcomed back by his former parishioners at Blessed Sacrament Church.

"He did the crime, he paid the time, and I think he should probably still have quite a large following," Blessed Sacrament parishioner Frank Licari told the National Post. “There’s never a Sunday where somebody doesn’t ask me or my daughter Joanne about him.”

He added that he believed the situation forced LeClair to get help for his gambling addiction. Even before his sentencing, LeClair attended “extensive counselling.”

"People often say, ‘Out of sight, out of say out of mind,’ but it’s the opposite," Joanne Licari said of LeClair’s absence at the church. “It’s almost a continual reminder something is missing.”

In a statement from January, Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of the Archdiocese of Ottawa said that the church would work with LeClair so he can return to the ministry, CBC News reported.

"Despite this difficult decision affecting Father LeClair’s life, I know that he is relieved to have this painful moment behind him," Prendergast said in the statement. "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."

As a condition of his parole, LeClair will continue to receive counselling.