New bishop named for Gaspe as incumbent retires

Prelate taking over is a member of the Servite order
OTTAWA (CCN)

Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Jean Gagnon of Gaspe July 4, and named Quebec Auxiliary Bishop Gaetan Proulx, OSM, as his replacement.

Bishop Proulx, 69, had served as Prior of the Canadian Servite Province since 2000 and as pastor and administrator of the Quebec archdiocese’s Notre-Dame-de-Foy Parish until his Dec. 12, 2011, appointment as auxiliary bishop.

Born on Mary 27, 1947 in Saint-Denis-de-Brompton, Que., Bishop Proulx joined the Servite order, then studied philosophy at Dominican University College in Ottawa and went on to obtain a Master’s of Theology at Laval University in Quebec.

After his ordination to the priesthood on June 8, 1975, Bishop Proulx worked as an assistant and master of novices for his religious community until 1985, when he went to France to serve as a priest in the dioceses of Seez and Belley-Ars. In 1989, Bishop Proulx moved to Brussels to take on the role of Master of Formation for the Servites of France, Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo. After two years, he returned to Quebec to serve as Master of Formation for the Servites of Quebec and do parish ministry at Quebec City’s Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-la-Salle parish.

Bishop Gagnon, who was named Gaspe’s apostolic administrator in 2001 and its bishop in 2002, offered his resignation upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75.

Born in St-Joseph-de-Lauzon, Quebec in 1941, Bishop Gagnon was ordained to the priesthood in the Quebec archdiocese in 1966. Pope John Paul II named him Auxiliary Bishop of Quebec on Dec. 4, 1998.

As a member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), Bishop Gagnon was a member and chairman of the former social affairs commission (1999-2003); member of the French Sector’s Christian education commission (2003-2005); and a member of the French sector’s liturgy and sacraments commission. From 2005-2007, Bishop Gagnon represented the CCCB on the board of the Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) and served as COLF:’s chairman from 2007-2009.