James J. LeBar (May 19, 1936 – February 21, 2008) was a Roman Catholic priest who was the chief exorcist of the Archdiocese of New York in the United States.
Previously, he was a parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Poughkeepsie from 1980 to 1982; St. Stanislaus, Pleasant Valley from 1979 to 1980; St. Catherine Laboure, Lake Katrine from 1973 to 1979 and from 1965 to 1967; St. Joseph's, Kingston from 1967 to 1973; St. Gregory Barbarigo, Garnerville in 1967; and St. John the Evangelist, White Plains from 1962 to 1965.
In the 1970s, LeBar was asked to become part of the Office of Communications of the Archdiocese of New York which at the time was dealing with the rise of groups they called "cults" and occult activity.
LeBar was buried from Regina Coeli Parish in Hyde Park, New York where he was in residence for nearly the last 25 years, especially while he served during most of that time as priest-chaplain to the Hudson Valley Psychiatric Center.
[3] According to a colleague of LeBar: "For those of us who knew and worked with him, were served or mentored by him, we are trying with God’s grace to come to terms with this loss, both personally and for the Church in America.
I have often remarked about Father’s disarmingly dry sense of humor—a hallmark of the same man who at times directly addressed and expelled demonic forces.
The list notes that "A determination by the IRCP that a claim is eligible for compensation is not equivalent to a finding by a judge or jury that a clergy member is liable for sexual abuse of a minor under civil or criminal law.