(Ottawa -- CCCB) His Holiness Pope John Paul II has accepted the resignation of Most Rev. Jean-Guy Hamelin as Bishop of Rouyn-Noranda and appointed Rev. Dorylas Moreau, pastor of Saint-Patrice Parish in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, as the new Bishop of Rouyn-Noranda.  Bishop Hamelin had submitted his resignation having reached the age of retirement as required by canon law.

Bishop-elect Moreau was born in Kamouraska, Quebec, in 1947, and ordained to the priesthood in 1972 for the Diocese of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière. He obtained a master’s degree in theology at the Grand Séminaire de Québec  and studied liturgy at the Abbey of Saint-André in Bruges, Belgium, and at the Dominican Pastoral Institute in Montreal.

Besides parish assignments in the Diocese of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, he also served as vice-chancellor and as secretary to the bishop.

Bishop Hamelin, who yesterday celebrated his 28th anniversary as Bishop of Rouyn-Noranda, has been very active over the years in the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, including serving as president, 1993-1995.

The Diocese of Rouyn-Noranda has a Catholic population of 56,000 and is served by 28 diocesan priests, nine religious order priests and 88 religious in 45 parishes and missions.