Christian Riesbeck (born February 7, 1970) is the

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of the Diocese of St. John, New Brunswick.

Early life and education

Riesbeck was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, the child of a German father and New Brunswick-francophone mother. He received a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Political Science at the University of Ottawa, a Master of Divinity from

St. Augustine's Seminary St. Augustine's Seminary is the archdiocesan seminary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto, and is located by the shore of Lake Ontario in Scarborough. It is a member of the Toronto School of Theology. History St. Augustine's Seminary ...

, and a Licentiate of Canon Law from Saint Paul University in Ottawa. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Ottawa on October 12, 1996.

Priesthood

After working for three years as a parochial vicar in

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, he was sent to

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as a parish priest in 1999. There Riesbeck learned Spanish over seven weeks in order to celebrate mass for the congregation at predominantly Hispanic Queen of Peace parish. He was credited with a "remarkable turnaround" of the parish and its school. Riesbeck was

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as a member of the Companions of the Cross in 2003, and served as its Assistant General Superior. In 2010, Riesbeck was appointed Chancellor of the Diocese of Ottawa and was a judge on the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

's regional marriage tribunal. Riesbeck speaks French, English, German and Spanish.

Episcopal ministry

On January 7, 2014, Christian Riesbeck was appointed an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Ottawa and titular bishop of

Tipasa in Numidia Tipasa, distinguished as Tipasa in Numidia, was a town in the Roman province of Numidia in North Africa. Its ruins are located above sea level near present-day Tifesh in Constantine Province, Algeria, south of Annaba. History Tipasa was a Ca ...

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. On March 19, 2014, he received episcopal ordination by archbishop Terrence Prendergast joined by archbishop-emeritus

Marcel Gervais Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilian ...

and bishop Paul-Andre Durocher. Riesbeck criticized

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

's position on abortion and suggested it would be unseemly for him to continue receiving communion, saying he takes issue with "the fact that he considers himself to be a devout Catholic but then adheres to, or advocates for, abortion." He suggested that to ameliorate his relationship with the

, Trudeau would "have to make a public retraction of his views." Peter street 025

On October 15, 2019, Riesbeck was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Saint John by

. Riesbeck chose the episcopal motto "Evangelii Gaudium" — meaning "joy of the gospel" — in reference to Pope Francis's apostolic exhortation of the same name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasun, Robert 1970 births Living people Clergy from Montreal Canadian people of German descent University of Ottawa alumni Saint Paul University alumni 20th-century Canadian Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Canadian Roman Catholic priests