WINNIPEG (CANADA)
Winnipeg Free Press
Oct. 24, 2019
By John Longhurst
Winnipeg Archbishop Richard Gagnon will head the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. He says he is humbled by the confidence and trust placed in him.
For Winnipeg Archbishop Richard Gagnon, being elected president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is a “great honour and privilege.”
Gagnon, who leads the Archdiocese of Winnipeg, was elected to the top position during the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) annual meeting in Cornwall, Ont., last month.
“It’s a big responsibility,” he said, adding he’s humbled that his colleagues “have placed their confidence and trust in me.”
As president, Gagnon will lead the national assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in Canada as it addresses various issues.
“We don’t issue orders,” he said. “Our role is to provide guidelines” and assist the dioceses in “moving forward” on various issues.
One of those issues is reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, and whether the CCCB will invite Pope Francis to Canada to issue an apology for the church’s role in residential schools.
Such an invitation is “an ongoing discussion” Gagnon said, adding the Pope is “open to the idea.”
“I realize many people want him to come,” he said. But “this is not a box for him (the Pope) to tick off.”
A papal visit, he shared, would be just one part of the larger process of reconciliation happening in local dioceses across Canada, although he acknowledged it would be a “powerful symbol.”
Another item on the agenda of the CCCB is clergy sexual abuse.
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