New bishop named for Alberta diocese

Ottawa, Canada, Nov 30, 2006 / 22:00 pm

Pope Benedict XVI appointed a Redemptorist priest, Fr. Gérard Pettipas, as Archbishop of Grouard-McLennan in northern Alberta, yesterday.

Archbishop-elect Pettipas succeeds Archbishop Arthé Guimond who is retiring after serving as archbishop for the last six years, and having reached the retirement age of 75.  

Born in Halifax, N.S., in 1950, Archbishop-elect Pettipas studied at the University of Windsor, the University of St. Michael’s College in Toronto and at St. Thomas College in West Hartford, Conn., where he obtained a Master’s degree in Religious Studies.  

Member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), Archbishop-elect Pettipas has been involved in a number of pastoral ministries across Canada.  After his ordination as a priest in 1977, he was associate pastor at St. Teresa Parish in St. John’s, Newfoundland.  

He was then vocation director and part of the Redemptorist parish mission team in Ontario.  From 1990 to 1992, he was rector and director of Holy Redeemer College Retreat Centre in Windsor, Ontario, after which he worked in youth ministry, from 1992 to 1995.  Since 1999, he has served as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Grande Prairie, Alberta.

The Archdiocese of Grouard-McLennan borders Canada’s two northernmost territories. It has a population of 44,000 Catholics in 66 parishes and missions served by seven diocesan priests, 19 religious priests, two permanent deacons and 34 religious brothers and sisters.

The date for Archbishop-elect Pettipas’ ordination has not yet been announced.