Michel is my first love!

LS: What kind of man is Michel Marcotte, your husband?
G.L.: He's a simple, gentle, tender man. I spent 12 years with Roch Thériault, who was the personification of evil. For me, Michel is the personification of good.

LS: Where did you meet?
G.L.: About 10 years ago, at the Dominique-Racine school in Chicoutimi. He was a pastoral animator and he used to invite me to go and talk to young people to make them aware of the sectarian phenomenon. That's how our friendship and spiritual affinity led to love.

LS: When did the spark ignite?
G.L.: It was a long process. I didn't want to be tricked by a man again. I was vigilant and selective.

LS: Did he help you on your way?
G.L.: Above all, it helped me correct my prejudices about the Church.

LS: Does the love you feel for Michel make your heart beat the way Thériault did back then?
G.L.: I never experienced true love with Thériault. What I'm experiencing inside is really a first for me. Michel is my first love.

LS: Between the time of Roch Thériault and your husband, were there any other men?
G.L.: After Thériault, I dated a man from Chicoutimi for two years. That ended five years ago. I loved him passionately, and as I was hurt another time, I intended to close my heart for good. I didn't want to have any more love relationships after him.

LS: Do you relearn love, even after you've crossed paths with Roch Thériault?
G.L.: Yes. I've believed that ever since I met Michel. He's affectionate and has great values and principles, which I adhere to. I say I'm with a man who's my right-hand man... (Laughs)

LS: Michel has brought God back into your life?
G.L.: He's in charge of the Notre-Dame de la Salette Catholic Center in Chicoutimi. It's a great place to feel at home, and organizes wonderful healing activities. Interested readers can consult the website (www.ndsalette.net)

LS: Is it a bit like a cult?
G.L.: I must admit that the first time I went there, invited by Michel, I thought it looked like a cult. But I quickly changed my mind. It's more like a prayer-based evangelization cell. It offers various teachings and a mission of reconciliation for couples in difficulty.

LS: Do you feel an absolute need to be part of a religious group or community?
G.L.: I think we're all brothers and sisters, and I believe that rubbing shoulders with people who share the same religious values is essential for spiritual balance.

LS: With Roch Thériault, do you feel the presence of this same God?
G.L.: When I met him, I had an image of God that I'd been taught as a child. It was the image of a vengeful God. Thériault was the incarnation of that God.

LS: How could an intelligent woman like you have been so manipulated?
G.L.: I was tricked and manipulated in the same way that many women are tricked and manipulated in their own married lives, in what I call two-person cults. Some women experience exactly the same reality as what happens in a cult. They are victims of psychological, physical and other forms of violence. They've married people sometimes much worse than Thériault, even if it's hard to believe.

LS: Have you recovered from all this suffering?
G.L.: I'll never be 100% cured. I estimate that 15% of my suffering will last forever. It's this percentage that enables me to have empathy, compassion and sensitivity to suffering. Otherwise, my heart would have turned to stone.

WATCH A SHORT PREVIEW OF THEIR WEDDING

LS: In your opinion, does a human being have to suffer to achieve the uncommon serenity you exude?
G.L.: No. Unfortunately, if we don't walk naturally through love, we may have to undergo a lot of suffering to achieve inner peace.

LS: Have you forgiven yourself?
G.L.: Yes, but it was a very long journey.


LS: Have you forgiven Roch Thériault?
G.L.: Yes. After several unsuccessful attempts with psychologists, I wrote a book. It was a therapeutic exercise. I relived all those years. Every page brought tears to my eyes.

LS: Are you referring to your autobiography, L'Alliance de la brebis?
G.L.: Yes. I published it with JCL, in Chicoutimi. I didn't know then that I was going to sell 250,000 copies. That's something very few people know. The first books, the very first publication, never went on sale. What's more, 10,000 copies were burned, because we had to change almost all the real names in the book.

LS: Are you afraid of Roch Thériault?
G.L.: No, not really (Laughs).

LS: One day, nothing will stop him from getting out of prison. Are you looking forward to that?
G.L.: I hope he dies sick, or does what St. Paul did and turns to good.

LS: During his years of incarceration, couldn't he also have grown, understood and made progress?
G.L.: I sincerely hope so, but I don't hold out much hope. Just look at his works, if you can call them that. They're for sale on a website where murderers' creations are displayed.

LS: Have you had any contact with him since he's been in the penitentiary?
G.L.: No, I've never spoken to him again. But one day, an inmate met me and confided in me that he had asked him to kill me. I must confess, though, that I pray for Roch Thériault every day.

LS: Is it true that women will be waiting for Roch Thériault when he comes out?
G.L.: It's not true. No one is waiting for him, and hasn't been for five years. However, I do believe that one woman in the Maritimes is in love with him. I sincerely hope he'll experience love and change before he dies, otherwise Judgement Day will be merciless.

LS: Do you still have contact with people who were in the sect?
G.L.: No.

LS: If Roch Thériault asked to meet you in a neutral, protected place, would you agree?
G.L.: Yes. I'd tell him I forgive him and ask him one question: "Have you forgiven yourself for everything you've done?

LS: Would you thank him for your current happiness?
G.L.: What a beautiful question! I lived with the devil for 12 years. On the evening of July 26, 1989, when he amputated my right arm with a dull blade, I was sure I was going to die. When I got out of my body and asked God to help me, I saw the light. That light has been with me ever since, enabling me to live this beautiful love today.

LS: Would you like to add a word for our readers?
G.L.: I'd invite them to sign up on Facebook to the page Opposez-vous à la libération de Roch "Moïse" Thériault. I'd also tell them to love. Hope and living in the moment are my greatest strengths today.