Pope Francis has named Auxiliary Bishop Denis Grondin of Quebec as the archbishop of Rimouski, Quebec.
He succeeds Archbishop Pierre-André Fournier who died in office January 10, 2015, at the age of 71.
At the time of his death, Archbishop Fournier was also President of the Assembly of Québec Catholic Bishops. Since then, the Reverend Benoît Hins, the former Vicar General, has been Diocesan Administrator of Rimouski, while the Most Reverend Paul Lortie, Bishop of Mont-Laurier, was elected President of the Assembly of Québec Catholic Bishops.
Denis Grondin was born on October 23, 1954, in Rimouski. He completed his secondary school studies at the Seminaire Saint-Francois and the Seminaire Saint-Augustin. He then pursued his collegial studies in health sciences at the Quebec Minor Seminary and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in medicine. Following his pastoral internship in the educational system in Sainte-Croix de Lotbinière and the «Patro Saint-Vincent de Paul», he entered the Major Seminary in Quebec City. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 21, 1989, by Cardinal Louis-Albert Vachon. He began his pastoral ministry as associate pastor in various regions of the Archdiocese of Québec. He also served as pastor of several parishes in the Charlevoix region and as pastoral animator in the field of health until his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Québec on December 12, 2011. The new Archbishop of Rimouski was ordained Bishop on February 25, 2012, by His Eminence Gérald Cyprien Cardinal Lacroix, Archbishop of Québec and Primate of the Church in Canada.
As a member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), Bishop Grondin serves on the Standing Committee for Relations with Movements and Associations, in addition to being the Bishop ponens with the Charismatic Renewal movement in the French Sector.
According to the CCCB 2015 Directory, the Archdiocese of Rimouski has 103 parishes and missions, with a Catholic population of 143,640, served by 82 diocesan priests, four priests who are members of religious communities, 15 permanent deacons, 512 Religious Sisters and Brothers and 11 lay pastoral assistants.
