Joseph Charbonneau, (July 31, 1892 – November 19, 1959) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Roman 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 ...

, who served as

Archbishop of Montreal The Archdiocese of Montréal ( la, Archdioecesis Marianopolitana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Canada. A metropolitan see, its archepiscopal see is the Montreal, Quebec. It includes Montreal ...

from 1940 to 1950. Born in Lefaivre,

Alfred and Plantagenet Alfred and Plantagenet is a Franco-Ontarian township in eastern Ontario, Canada, in the United Counties of Prescott and Russell. Located approximately from downtown Ottawa at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the South Nation River. The t ...

, he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

to the priesthood on June 24, 1916. On June 22, 1939, Charbonneau was appointed Bishop of Hearst by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

on the following August 15 from Archbishop Joseph-Guillaume-Laurent Forbes, with Archbishop Emile Yelle, PSS, and Bishop Louis Rhéaume, OMI, serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

. Charbonneau was later named

Coadjutor Archbishop The term coadjutor (or coadiutor, literally "co-assister" in Latin) is a title qualifier indicating that the holder shares the office with another person, with powers equal to the other in all but formal order of precedence. These include: * Coadj ...

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 ...

and

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

Amorium Amorium was a city in Phrygia, Asia Minor which was founded in the Hellenistic period, flourished under the Byzantine Empire, and declined after the Arab sack of 838. It was situated on the Byzantine military road from Constantinople to Cilic ...

on May 21, 1940. He succeeded the late Georges Gauthier as

on August 31, 1940. He is best known in Canada for his pro-labour role in the

Asbestos Strike The Asbestos strike of 1949, based in and around the town of Asbestos, Quebec, Canada, was a four-month labour dispute by asbestos miners. It has traditionally been portrayed as a turning point in Quebec history that helped lead to the Quiet Rev ...

.TIME Magazine
Resignation, with Rumors
February 20, 1950 Upon his resignation on February 9, 1950, Charbonneau was made titular Archbishop of Bosphorus and accepted work in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

as a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

. For his interest in interdenominational dialogue, the rights of organised labour, and the well-being of minority groups, Archbishop Charbonneau has been seen as a precursor to the

Quiet Revolution The Quiet Revolution (french: Révolution tranquille) was a period of intense socio-political and socio-cultural change in French Canada which started in Quebec after the election of 1960, characterized by the effective secularization of govern ...

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy profile

1892 births 1959 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Canada Roman Catholic archbishops of Montreal Amorium Roman Catholic bishops of Hearst–Moosonee {{Canada-RC-archbishop-stub