Posted at 5:00 am
On April 12, Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec will officially resign as head of the Congregation for Bishops. Under his leadership, the Canadian episcopacy became more conservative.
“The bishops appointed in the last decade were ordained under John Paul II and represent a more conservative generation,” says Michael Coren, a Toronto Anglican priest who has just published The Rebel Christ and was until recently a Catholic. “We speak less of Marc Ouellet in English Canada than in Quebec, but it is certain that he continued this conservative trend. »
Thomas Reese, a Jesuit who teaches at the University of Santa Clara, California, believes Bishop Ouellet’s appointment as bishop undermined Pope Francis’ plan to fight “clericalism” in the church. “Francis wants an open Church,” says Father Reese. But very often the bishops appointed in the last decade defend the institution of the church against the world instead of serving the faithful. »
The same trend can be seen in Quebec, according to Marie-Andrée Roy, sociologist of religion at UQAM.
I think it can be said that Cardinal Ouellet, as Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops, advocated appointing conservative bishops. However, he does not work alone, the Pope has the last word.
Marie-Andrée Roy, sociologist of religion at UQAM
The bishops appointed after Francis was elected pope in 2013 differ from those elected between 2010, the year Bishop Ouellet took office in the Congregation for Bishops, and 2013, which had already begun,” said Gilles Routhier, theologian at Laval University.
According to Mr. Routhier, one of Bishop Ouellet’s representative appointments under Benedict XVI is that of Christian Lépine, Archbishop of Montreal since 2012, who has been hailed by the anti-abortion movement and denounced by women’s groups. That of Martin Laliberté, a former missionary, in 2021 in Trois-Rivières would be representative of Bishop Ouellet’s appointments under François.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
The Archbishop of Montreal, Christian Lépine
Frank Leo
Marc Ouellet himself, when he was appointed bishop of Quebec in 2002, was considered a conservative who had come to put the Quebec episcopate in order. It is therefore curious that the end of his Vatican career is marked by another appointment in a major diocese that seems to mark a breath of fresh air: the appointment of Montreal’s Frank Leo in Toronto.
PHOTO CHRIS YOUNG, THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVE
Frank Leo, newly appointed Archbishop of Toronto
“I would say that the bishops of English Canada were all surprised that they were not chosen from among themselves to lead the country’s largest diocese,” says Darren Dias, a Dominican who teaches at the Toronto School of Theology.
It certainly seems to be sending out a message that there will be a change in the Canadian episcopate, which is generally conservative.
Darren Dias, a Dominican who teaches at the Toronto School of Theology
Carl O’Byrne, coordinator at Inclusive Ministries, a Jesuit organization that addresses the spiritual needs of sexual diversity, hopes Bishop Leo will prove less conservative than his predecessor, Thomas Collins. “In an interview he gave before his appointment, he spoke about Paul VI’s Lumen Gentium document [pape de 1963 à 1978], says Mr. O’Byrne. It is generally believed that Lumen Gentium sees the Church as a service to the people. »
As for Bishop Leo, Marie-Andrée Roy is less optimistic: when he was general secretary of the Canadian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, he had bad relations with nuns. “And there is much in the cult of the Virgin Mary, notes Ms. Roy. The more you love Virgo, the more you distrust ordinary women. For me it is a hyperconservative. »
The timing of Archbishop Leo’s appointment is also surprising: it came two weeks after Bishop Ouellet’s resignation was announced last January. “The process of appointing a bishop involves lengthy deliberations, so it is impossible that Archbishop Leo’s appointment was decided on a whim,” Fr. Dias said. But his appointment could very well have been announced later to avoid the connection between the two events. »
Mr O’Byrne also finds the near-simultaneity of the announcements of Bishop Leo’s appointment and Bishop Ouellet’s resignation strange. “Bishop Ouellet’s resignation did not come into effect until April, so it appears these announcements were made in a narrow, deliberate manner,” Mr O’Byrne said. She supports the thesis that Archbishop Leo’s appointment is a message to the Canadian episcopate that the future belongs to other, less conservative bishops. »
Should Monsignor Leo turn out to be less conservative than his Canadian counterparts, his appointment may mirror the appointment of Monsignor Ouellet to Quebec in 2002, according to Laval University’s Mr. Routhier: Monsignor Ouellet was a conservative who brought one an excessive progressive episcopate, while Msgr. Leo contrasts with an episcopacy deemed too conservative by Pope Francis. “We have to see how Bishop Leo will behave as bishop, but the parallel is interesting,” Mr. Routhier said.
Learn more
2200 Number of bishops appointed by the Vatican since Marc Ouellet headed the Congregation for Bishops
SOURCE: Pontifical Yearbook
5500 number of Catholic bishops worldwide
SOURCE: Pontifical Yearbook