New Archbishop Appointed to Grouard-McLennan

Tuesday, July 16 1996

OTTAWA (CCCB) – Pope John Paul II has accepted the resignation of Most Reverend Henri Légaré, OMI, as Archbishop of Grouard-McLennan and appointed Most Reverend Henri Goudreault, OMI, as Archbishop Légaré’s successor. The news was published today in Rome.

Archbishop Légaré, 77 years old and originally from Saskatchewan, was appointed Archbishop of Grouard-McLennan in 1972. A sociologist by training, with a doctorate from the Catholic University of Lille in France, he was professor at Laval University, Saint Norbert and Saint Boniface major seminaries, and the University of Ottawa, where he also became vice rector and later rector.

A member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Archbishop Légaré was ordained priest in June 1943 and named Bishop of Labrador City-Schefferville on July 13, 1967. He has also served as chairman of the national conference of Canadian colleges and universities, provincial of the Manitoba Oblates and, from 1981 to 1983, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. He holds honorary doctorates from Carleton, Queen’s, Windsor and Waterloo Lutheran (now Wilfrid Laurier) universities, as well as from the University of Saskatchewan.

Archbishop Goudreault is originally from Ontario. Born in 1928, he also is a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. After graduate studies in theology at the University of Ottawa, he studied Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and later received a doctorate in theology from the Catholic Institute of Paris.

After teaching theology at Saint Paul University, Ottawa, he became director of the university’s institute for mission studies, director of its centre for anthropological research, vice rector and, from 1977 to 1985, rector. From 1985 to 1987 he was provincial of the Saint Joseph Oblate province, and in 1987 president of the Canadian Oblate Conference.

Appointed Bishop of Labrador City-Schefferville in 1987, Archbishop Goudreault has served on the theology and missions commissions of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. Currently he is chairman of the Conference’s theology commission, chairman of an ad hoc committee on special financial issues, and member of the programmes and priorities committee, as well as a member of the permanent council and executive, holding the position of co-treasurer.

The Archdiocese of Grouard-McLennan, which covers the northwest corner of Alberta and extends into the Northwest Territories, has a Catholic population of slightly more than 40,000. Its 66 parishes and missions are served by approximately 30 priests, 30 women religious and approximately a dozen lay pastoral workers.