Death of the Most Reverend Paul-Émile Charbonneau, Bishop Emeritus of Gatineau

Thursday, May 22 2014

(CCCB – Ottawa)… The Most Reverend Paul-Émile Charbonneau, Bishop Emeritus of Gatineau, died May 20, 2014, at the age of 92. He had been named Auxiliary Bishop of Ottawa on November 15, 1960, and subsequently the first Bishop of Hull, today Gatineau, on May 21, 1963, both appointments by Pope (now Saint) John XXIII. Bishop Charbonneau retired because of health problems on April 12, 1973, at the age of 51. As Bishop, he participated in the plenary sessions of the Second Vatican Council.

Bishop Charbonneau was born in Sainte-Thérèse de Blainville, Quebec, on May 4, 1922. Ordained a priest in Montreal on May 31, 1947, by the Most Reverend Joseph Charbonneau, then Archbishop of Montreal, he was ordained Bishop on January 18, 1961, in the Cathedral of Ottawa by the Most Reverend Marie-Joseph Lemieux, O.P., then Archbishop of Ottawa. Prior to his episcopal ordination, Bishop Charbonneau was the Vicar General of the Diocese of Saint-Jérôme and pastor of the Parish Cathedral of Saint-Jérôme. After his resignation was accepted by the Holy Father, Bishop Charbonneau was the founding Bishop of a formation program for priests in Pierrefonds, Quebec. During his retirement he also often preached retreats for priests in the French Sector dioceses of Canada.

During his episcopal ministry, Bishop Charbonneau served on several Commissions and Committees of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), including as Chairman of the former Commission for Catholic Action and the Lay Apostolate (1965-1970); Chairman of the former department for internal relations, and Chairman of the then Office for the Laity(1969-1970). Bishop Charbonneau also served from 1966 to 1970 as a member of what was then the CCCB Board of Administration (today the Permanent Council), and from 1967 to 1970 on the former Commission for Theology (today the Commission for Doctrine).

The Funeral Mass will be on May 31 at 10:00 a.m. in Saint Joseph’s Oratory, Montreal, presided by the Most Reverend Paul-André Durocher, Archbishop of Gatineau and President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Most Reverend Roger Ébacher, Archbishop emeritus of Gatineau, will give the homily.