Ottawa, March 21, 2012 – The Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, issued the following statement congratulating The Most Reverend Christian Lépine on being appointed Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montreal:
I wish to congratulate Monsignor Christian Lépine on being named by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Montreal. He succeeds His Eminence Jean-Claude Turcotte, who recently retired from the post after 22 years.
Monsignor Lépine served as Auxiliary Bishop of Montreal from July 2011 until his appointment as Archbishop on March 20, 2012. He is a past Director of the Grand Seminary of Montreal and has served in several offices at the Vatican, including the Secretariat of State. More recently, he served as pastor of two parishes in the Archdiocese, where he is known for the grace, candour and intellectual vigour of his homilies.
I am confident that the Archdiocese of Montreal, the second-largest in Canada, will benefit from Archbishop Lépine’s breadth of ecclesiastical experience, as well as his spirit of dedicated service to the Roman Catholic Church and the community at large.
For further information (media only), please contact:
Ana Curic
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-954-1064
Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca
Building a stronger Canada: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) strengthens Canada’s economic, social and cultural prosperity, helping ensure Canadian safety and security while managing one of the largest and most generous immigration programs in the world.