Bishops, religious.

In early January 2009, Coadjutor Archbishop Michael Miller (62) of Vancouver was appointed Archbishop there, succeeding Archbishop Raymond Roussin (69) who took early retirement because of illness.

In Quebec, Bishop Jean-pierre Blais (60) became bishop of Baie-Comeau in December 2008. He succeeds Bishop Pierre Morisette (65) who was named Bishop of Saint-Jerome in July. Also in the same province, the Abbot of the Cistercian monastery in Oka, Yvon Moreau (68), was appointed Bishop of Saint-Anne-de-la-Pocatiere whose bishop retired, having reached the age of 75. As for the Abbot's monastery in Oka, it closed its doors for good in February 2009, with the remaining monks moving further north into the wilderness of Quebec province.

Also moving early in 2009 were the Grey Nuns in Montreal. The nuns sold their large historic stone Motherhouse with its "hushed and sprawling corridors" and its "soaring motherhouse chapel," to Concordia University, taking the remains of their foundress Ste. Marguerite d'Youville with them. Their exit, said the Toronto Globe and Mail, "stands as a vivid symbol of the slow and inexorable fadeout of Quebec's religious communities from the public life of Montreal." (Ingrid Peritz, Globe, Dec 23/08) Four years earlier, in 2005, the Congregation of Notre Dame had sold their motherhouse on the "upper reaches of Westmount," moving the bones of their foundress, Ste. Marguerite Bourgeois, to a chapel in Old Montreal. During the last number of years an average of ten churches a year have closed in the Montreal area.