LOREM IPSUM DOLOR
The Seven Bishops of the Former Gravelbourg Diocese
Throughout the history of the former Diocese of Gravelbourg, seven bishops provided spiritual leadership and guidance to the Catholic faithful of southern Saskatchewan, leaving a lasting legacy of faith, service, and community.
His Excellency Cardinal Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve, O.M.I.
(1883-1947)
First Bishop of the Gravelbourg Diocese
from 1930 to 1932
Bishop Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve was born in Montréal on November 2nd, 1883. Having completed his studies at Mont Saint-Louis, he entered the congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Lachine at the age of 16 years. He continued his theological and philosophical studies at the Ottawa Scolasticat and was ordained a priest by Archbishop Thomas Duhamel of Ottawa on November 2nd, 1907.
Bishop Villeneuve obtained a Doctorate in Theology, Philosophy and Canon Law. He pursued a career in teaching at the Scolasticat and in 1920, he was promoted to Superior, a position he retained for a decade. He was consecrated First Bishop of the newly founded Gravelbourg Diocese by Archbishop Guillaume Forbes in Ottawa on September 11th, 1930.
He followed the motto: “Docere quis sit Christus” (To teach to all who is Our Lord Jesus Christ). Upon his arrival in Gravelbourg, Bishop Villeneuve made it known, as he was commencing his episcopal ministry, that religious education was to be his first priority. He was determined to preserve the institutions that offered religious education, in particular Collège Mathieu. With the support of Bishop Joseph Guy, Vicar Apostolic of Grouard in Alberta, and of his religious brothers, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Bishop Villeneuve was able to found a Major Seminary in Mazenod in 1931.
He was elected 20th Bishop and 10th Archbishop of the oldest diocese in Canada (Québec) on December 11th, 1931. His Excellency Cardinal Villeneuve was consecrated in Rome by His Holiness Pope Pius XI on March 13th, 1933. On March 22nd, 1939, he became a member of the Biblical Studies Commission. On March 27th, 1946, Cardinal Villeneuve was also privileged to receive a position in the sacred congregation of the selection of the Bishops of the World.
His Excellency Cardinal Jean-Marie-Rodrigue Villeneuve passed away in Alhambra, California, on January 17th, 1947.
His Excellency Archbishop Louis-Joseph-Arhtur Melanson
(1883-1947)
Second Bishop of the Gravelbourg Diocese
from 1933 to 1937
His Excellency Archbishop Louis-Joseph-Arthur Melanson was born in Trois-Rivières on March 25th, 1879. Soon after, his family moved to New Richmond in Cascapedia Bay, New Brunswick. He studied theology in the seminairies of Rimouski and Montréal. Arthur Melanson joined the Chatham Diocese in New Brunswick where he was ordained into priesthood by Bishop Barry on July 9th, 1905.
He was assigned to the Campbellton Parish as assistant priest where he dedicated his first years of ministry to the pioneers living in the forest near Colebrook and Glenlivet. Pastor of Balmoral in 1907, he was also entrusted with the care of the lumber camps. His efforts initiated a movement of colonization which succeeded in the founding of two new parishes. In 1909, he was confided to the Campbellton Parish. In 1925, Father Melanson founded the teaching order of the Daughters of Mary of the Assumption. In 1930, he became Vicar General of the Chatham Diocese and was made Protonotary Apostolic by the Holy See. He was elected second Bishop of the Gravelbourg Diocese on November 25th, 1932, and was consecrated in Chatham by the Apostolic Delegate, the Most Reverend Andrea Cassulo, on February 22nd, 1933.
Bishop Melanson was a firm supporter of all forms of Catholic action : youth movements, religious or lay vocations, Collège Mathieu, study groups and the Catholic Press. He was committed to the task of ensuring the survival and development of the young Church of the prairies assigned to him by the Sovereign Pontiff. His first pastoral letter, “Catholic Action; The Apostolate of the Laity in the Diocese“, was published at the beginning of Lent during his first year in Gravelbourg. Bishop Melanson founded an annual pilgrimage in honour of Mary and chose Our Lady of Auvergne Sanctuary in Ponteix. Gravelbourg’s first diocesan congress on Catholic Action was held in 1935. Soon after, Bishop Melanson started a diocesan newspaper, “La Voix Catholique“. The Most Reverend Arthur Melanson was promoted to Archbishop of Moncton on December 16th, 1936, and was consecrated on February 22nd of the following year. Archbishop Arthur Melanson died on October 23rd, 1941, in Moncton.
His Excellency Bishop Joseph Wilfrid Guy, O.M.I.
(1883-1951)
Third Bishop of the Gravelbourg Diocese
from 1937 to 1942
Bishop Joseph Wilfrid Guy was born in Montreal on July 28th, 1883. Bishop Guy entered the Noviciate of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate promptly after completing his studies at the University of Ottawa. He was ordained a priest in 1906 and was engaged as a professor at the Oblates’ Juniorate for a period of eight years. He spent five years at Keewatin fulfilling the duties of Vicar General for Bishop Charlebois, Master of Novices and Pastor of Le Pas Cathedral in Manitoba.
In 1920, he returned to the University of Ottawa as a professor , chaplin of the Sisters and representative of the Indian Schools for the Federal Government. In 1927, he was appointed Rector of Collège Mathieu in Gravelbourg and elected Vicar Apostolic of Gouard in Alberta on December 19th, 1929. He was then nominated Bishop of the Gravelbourg Diocese on June 2nd, 1937, and was officially installed into the Diocese on October 25th. Bishop Guy arrived in Gravelbourg at a moment of great distress. It was 1937, during the Great Depression, when the yields of crops were at their worst. A few weeks after his arrival, Bishop Guy launched the publication of two diocesan papers, “TENIR” and “The Prairie Optimist“, with the support of Father James Branch as the editor. Bishop Guy wrote : “Both of these papers will be the bond that unites the parishioners to one another for support that is so much needed.” In May of 1938, he organized in Gravelbourg a Catholic Press Exhibition. He also founded the new parishes of Masefield, Richmound and Liebenthal. In December of 1942, Bishop Joseph Guy resigned from his position and departed for Montréal where he became Procurator of the Oblate missions in Canada. He passed away on on December 8th, 1951, in Lachine.
His Excellency Archbishop Marie-Joseph Lemieux, O.P.
(1902-1994)
Fourth Bishop of the Gravelbourg Diocese
from 1942 to 1953
Archbishop Emeritus of Ottawa, former bishop of the Gravelbourg diocese, was born on May 10th, 1902 in the Notre-Dame Parish in Québec City. His parents Joseph-E. Lemieux and Eva Berlinguet gave him the name of Maurice.
Archbishop Lemieux entered religious life on August 4th, 1924 when he joined the Dominican Order in Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec. He was ordained to priesthood on April 15th, 1928 by Cardinal Raymond M. Rouleau, Archbishop of Quebec, in Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Ottawa.
In 1930, he began his missionary life in Japan with the Canadian Dominicans. Pope Pius XI appointed him as first Bishop of the new Diocese of Sendai on December 3rd, 1935 and was consecrated Bishop on June 29th, 1936. Due to threat of war and of new legislation, Archbishop Lemieux submitted his resignation and returned to Canada in 1941.
On November 26th, 1942 he was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Gravelbourg Diocese and soon afterwards, he was appointed Bishop of Gravelbourg on April 7th, 1944. Bishop Lemieux was appointed Archbishop of Ottawa on June 29th, 1953. He held this position from 1953-1966. He was also chairman of the Canadian Episcopal Commission for Latin America from 1961-1965. On September 24th, 1966 Pope Paul VI requested Archbishop Lemieux to leave Ottawa and become Apostolic Nuncio in Port-au-Prince, Haïti and on May 30th, 1969 he appointed Pro-Nuncio in New Delhi, India. Realising Archbishop Lemieux’s decrease in health, the Pope Paul VI offered him a position somewhat less demanding. He was placed as Chairman of the Fabrique of Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome on February 16th, 1971. In 1974, Archbishop Marie-Joseph Lemieux chose retirement and returned to Canada. In 1990, he took residence in the Villa Marguerite Elisabeth Bruyère Health Centre, where he passed away on March 4th, 1994.
His Excellency Bishop Aimé Decosse
(1903-1991)
Fifth Bishop of the Gravelbourg Diocese
from 1954 to 1973
Bishop Aimé Decosse was born in Somerset, Manitoba, on June 21nd, 1903. He studied letters and philosophy at the Collège of Saint Boniface. He also studied theology at the Major Seminary of Québec and at the University of Laval from 1922-1926. He received his Doctorate in Theology from the University of Laval and was ordained a priest by Archbishop Arthur Béliveau in the Saint Boniface Cathedral on July 4th, 1926.
Appointed as Secretary of the Archbishop’s Residence and Chaplin of l’Hospice Taché from 1926-1942, he was later promoted to Chancellor of the Diocese of Bishop Yelle and assistant priest of the Saint Boniface Cathedral until 1944. Bishop George Cabana appointed him as founding pastor of the Masefield Parish, including the missions of Rathwell and Holland, from 1944-1946. He was also pastor of the St. Elizabeth Parish in Saint Boniface where he worked with tremendous pastoral zeal. He was Superior of the Saint Boniface Major Seminary from 1948-1953 and Vicar General of Saint Boniface Archdiocese from 1952-1953. Appointed Bishop of Gravelbourg in December 1953 by Pius XII, he was consecrated Bishop at Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan, on January 20th, 1954. He took as his motto: “Fundamentum Christus” (Christ is the foundation). Bishop Decosse was one of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council, 1962-1965.
He resigned as Bishop of Gravelbourg on May 14th, 1973. After spending a few months as Pastor of the Gull Lake Parish, Bishop Aimé Decosse returned to Saint Boniface where he rendered distinguished service to the Marriage Tribunal. It was not until 1979 that he accepted retirement in the St.Antoine Residence. He passed away at St.Boniface Hospital on January 8th, 1991.
His Excellency Bishop Noël Delaquis
(1934-)
Sixth Bishop of the Gravelbourg Diocese
from 1974 to 1995
Bishop Noël Delaquis was born on December 25th, 1934, in Notre-Dame-des-Lourdes, Manitoba. He is the youngest of nine children. After his classical studies he chose to become a priest and went to the major seminary in Québec. He was ordained priest on June 5th, 1958, after which he continued his theological studies and obtained a Licentiate in Theology from the University of Laval.
He next was awarded a Licentiate in Canon Law after attending Lateran University in Rome. Upon his return to the Archdiocese of St. Boniface, he was successively assistant-priest at Christ the King Parish , professor at the major seminary from 1962-1970 and then Chancellor of the Archdiocese. Bishop Delaquis was consecrated sixth Bishop of Gravelbourg on February 19th, 1974, in St.Boniface. He was installed in Gravelbourg by Archbishop Charles Halpin on March 5th, 1974. Bishop Delaquis took as his motto: “May the Word of God run its course triumphantly”. In his first pastoral message to the Gravelbourg Diocese, he stated: “I am at service of the Word of the Lord within the Church of Gravelbourg… Thus my motto becomes a complete program for my mission in the Church. It indicates my first and foremost responsibility which is to be at the service of the Word of the Lord by my ministry of teaching, sanctifying and guiding.”. Bishop Delaquis is a theologian, lawyer and linguist.
His Excellency Bishop Raymond Roussin,
S.M.
(1939-)
Seventh Bishop of the Gravelbourg Diocese
from 1995 to 1998
Historical Moments from the Diocese
Cardinal Villeneuve’s Visit to Gravelbourg
In 1936, Cardinal Villeneuve came back to Gravelbourg to visit the Cathedral. To his right stands Bishop Arthur Melanson.
Mgr. Lemieux‘s vist to Wood Mountain
Between 1942 and 1953, Bishop Marie-Joseph Lemieux and his Vicar-General Msgr. Henri Kugener visit the Wood Mountain church.