Bishop Massé, who was auxiliary bishop in Saint-Jérôme, succeeds the Most Reverend Jean Gratton whose resignation was accepted by the Holy Father for reasons of age.
Born in Saint Barthélémy, Quebec, in 1936, Vital Massé studied at the Grand Séminaire de Montréal and was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Joliette in 1962. He obtained a doctorate in theology in Rome and then taught at the Séminaire de Joliette, the Diocesan Center in Joliette, and served as pastor in two parishes. He was named auxiliary bishop of Saint-Jérôme in 1993.
Bishop-elect Bouchard has been rector of St. Joseph Seminary in Edmonton since last year. He succeeds the Most Reverend Thomas Collins who became archbishop of Edmonton in 1999. Archbishop Collins had since then also been named apostolic administrator of Saint Paul.
Born in 1949 in Cornwall, Ontario, Luc Bouchard was ordained to the priesthood in 1976, studied Scripture in Rome and Jerusalem, served in many parishes in the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall, and taught at the Grand Séminaire de Montréal and St. Joseph Seminary in Edmonton.
