On 29 November 2020, the Holy Father accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Hearst-Moosonee, Canada, presented by Bishop Robert Ovide Bourgon, and appointed Bishop Terence Thomas Prendergast, S.J., as apostolic administrator of the same see.
On December 3, 2018, His Holiness Pope Francis united the Diocese of Moosonee with the Diocese of Hearst. He appointed the Most Reverend Robert Bourgon as Bishop of the new Diocese of Hearst-Moosonee.
Prior to this appointment, these two dioceses were ruled by a single bishop since 2006 but maintained their own existence.
Bishop Bourgon had been both the Bishop of the Diocese of Hearst as well as the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Moosonee to which he had been named by Pope Francis on April 25, 2016, having succeeded Bishop Vincent Cadieux.
The former Diocese of Hearst previously had 18 parishes and missions, with a Catholic population of approximately 20,045 which at the time was served by 21 diocesan priests, two permanent deacons, and three religious Sisters.
The former Diocese of Moosonee had 14 parishes and missions, with a Catholic population of approximately 3,830 and this was served by five priests who were members of institutes of consecrated life.
The new “Diocese of Hearst-Moosonee” currently has 25 parishes, 13 missions, and approximately 27,080 Catholics.
