Episcopal Resignation and Appointment for the Diocese of Gaspé

Thursday, February 23, 2023

23 February 2023 – Ottawa – Today, His Holiness Pope Francis appointed the Reverend Claude Lamoureux as the tenth Bishop of Gaspé. At the time of his appointment, Bishop-elect Lamoureux was the Vicar General and Moderator of the Diocese of Saint-Hyacinthe. He succeeds Bishop Gaétan Proulx, O.S.M., whose resignation was accepted by Pope Francis. Bishop Proulx exercised pastoral responsibility for the Diocese of Gaspé since 2016.

Bishop-elect Lamoureux was born on 11 April 1962 in Saint-Hyacinthe, where he spent his childhood. Following studies at Collège Mont-Sacré-Cœur in Granby (1975-1979) and Collège Marie-Victorin in Montreal (1980-1981), he entered the seminary in 1985. He was ordained to the presbyterate on 9 June 1990 by the Very Reverend Louis Langevin.

He obtained a certificate in religious knowledge from the Grand Seminary of Montreal. He completed a baccalaureate in theology in 1987 at the University of Montreal. He received a master’s degree in public administration in 2000 from the École nationale d’administration publique, Université du Québec and, in 2002, a diploma in dispute prevention and resolution from the Faculty of Law of the University of Sherbrooke.

Prior to entering the seminary, Bishop-elect Lamoureux did an internship in Mali, West Africa, in 1982-1983.

Following his ordination as a priest, Bishop-elect Lamoureux served in various capacities in the Diocese of Saint-Hyacinthe. In 1990, he was appointed Vicar for the Parish of Notre-Dame-du-Très-Saint-Sacrament in Saint-Hyacinthe and Vicar for the Parish of Saint-Joseph de Granby. From 1994 to 1997, while in studies, he was the Animator for the pastoral region of Granby. He was named Administrator for the Parish of Saint-Luc de Granby in 1995 and Curate in 1996. He was the Moderator of Saint-Luc and Saint-Joseph Parishes of Granby (2002 to 2013), while also serving at the Saint-Patrick Mission of Granby (2002-2006). He was Moderator for the Saint-Famille Parish of Granby (2009-2013), and of Très-Sainte-Trinité Parish of Granby (2014-2018).

In 2018, he became Vicar General and Moderator of the Diocese of Saint-Hyacinthe, while accompanying the deacons of the Diocese and serving as Vocation Director and member of the Corporation of the Diocese’s Grand Séminaire Christ-Roi. Also in 2018, he became Administrator for the Parishes of Saint-Joseph and Saint-Pierre in Sorel. From 2021 to 2022, he was Administrator for the Parishes of Saint-Marcel and Immaculée Conception in Saint-Ours. In 2022, he was named Administrator for the Parishes of Saint-Robert and Sainte-Victoire-de-Sorel.

Bishop-elect Lamoureux has been a Titular Canon of the Cathedral Chapter of Saint-Hyacinth since 2018.

In addition to serving on various commissions and boards in the Diocese of Saint-Hyacinth, Bishop-elect Lamoureux was the Coordinator of the Diocesan Committee for the Prevention of Harassment, Violence and Discrimination from 2019 to 2022.

Bishop Gaétan Proulx was born in Saint-Denis-de-Brompton, Quebec, in 1947. He joined the Servite Order, officially known as the Order of Servants of Mary, one of the five original Catholic mendicant orders. He obtained a baccalaureate in philosophy at the Dominican University College in Ottawa and a master’s degree in theology at Laval University, Quebec City. He was ordained a priest on 8 June 1975. He served as Novice Master for his community until leaving for France in 1985, where he served as priest in the Diocese of Séez and then the Diocese of Belley-Ars.

In 1989, he became the Formation Superior for the Servites of France, Belgium and the Democratic Republic of The Congo. He returned to Canada in 1991 where he became Formation Superior of the Servites in Quebec, while serving as a priest for the Parish of Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-la-Salle in Quebec City. In 2000, he became Prior of the Servites’ Canadian Province and, in 2005, Administrator and Curate of the Parish of Notre-Dame-de-Foy, a position that he occupied until his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Quebec was announced on 12 December 2011.

He was named the ninth Bishop of Gaspé by Pope Francis on 2 July 2016.

As of 2022, the Diocese of Gaspé had a total population of nearly 90,000, of whom some 75,000 were Catholic. Its 64 Christian communities include 59 parishes and two missions, as well as two Mi’kmaq missions. They are served by 42 priests, 8 deacons, and 72 women religious. The Diocese of Gaspé was erected by Pope Pius XI in 1922. It is suffragan to the Archdiocese of Rimouski. Including les Îles-de-la-Madeleine and the Gaspé Peninsula, the Diocese covers 20,637 sq. km. (nearly 8,000 square miles).

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