More news from the Vatican

It seems that installations and ordinations of bishops this week across Canada is not quite enough. The Vatican also announced yesterday that the Holy Father has appointed Most Reverend Vincent Cadieux, OMI as shepherd of the Diocese of Hearst.

Bishop Cadieux is not a total stranger to Hearst. Following the retirement of His Excellency, André Vallée, PME last year, Bishop Cadieux was appointed as Apostolic Administrator of Hearst while retaining his appointment as Bishop of Moosonee. These two dioceses are neighbours, located in Northern Ontario so to a certain extent it is understandable that he might be asked to watch over both dioceses.

In fact, in recent years, there are a number of examples of multiple dioceses being joined under the pastoral care of a bishop.

• In Nova Scotia, Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, SJ was until recently the shepherd of the Archdiocese of Halifax and the Diocese of Yarmouth; and
• In Quebec, Bishop Douglas Crosby was asked to lead not only the Diocese of Labrador-Shefferville, which he has been doing since October 24, 1997, but also Saint George's (NF) since August 6, 2003.

Bishop Cadieux's appointment is a bit different from the norm though because he is retaining the pastoral responsibility for the Diocese of Moosonee while being also appointed as Bishop of Hearst. According to the official announcement, the Dioceses of Moosonee and Hearst are henceforth united 'in persona episcope' in the person of the Bishop. They will still function as two dioceses but are now joined together through the common bishop they share as Shepherd.

Ordained as a priest of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1966, Bishop Cadieux has extensive experience working with the First Nation commuities in Canada. In fact from 1967 to 1991, he participated in a missionary pastoral activity involving the aboriginal people from the dioceses of Amos, Rouyn-Noranda and Timmins.