Archbishop V. James Weisgerber to become Officer of the Order of Canada

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, announced on December 30, 2013, 90 new appointments to the Order of Canada. These include the Most Reverend V. James Weisgerber, Archbishop Emeritus of Winnipeg, as Officer of the Order of Canada.  He will receive this honour “for his work as a champion of reconciliation and social justice, promoting deeper understanding between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.” Archbishop Weisgerber will be invited to accept his insignia, along with the other recipients, at an official ceremony to be held at a later date.

Archbishop Weisgerber was Bishop of Saskatoon, 1996 to 2000, and then Archbishop of Winnipeg, 2000 to 2013. Previously, from 1990 to 1996, he had been General Secretary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). As a Bishop and member of the CCCB, Archbishop Weisgerber served as President from 2007 to 2009. During his term as CCCB President, he had a key role in helping organize the delegation of representatives from the Assembly of First Nations and the Catholic Church in Canada whom Benedict XVI received in audience on April 29, 2009. It was on this occasion that the Holy Father expressed his sorrow at the anguish caused by “the deplorable conduct of some members of the Church” in the operations and management of the former Indian Residential Schools.

Archbishop Weisgerber has previously received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree “for his visionary commitment to social change and justice” from the University of Manitoba in 2013, a Doctor of Divinity (Honoris Causa) from St. John’s Anglican College of the University of Manitoba in 2010, the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2005, and the Notre Dame Medal of Honor in 1994.