Pope Leo XIV Appoints the Most Reverend Pierre Goudreault as Bishop of the Diocese of Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada

Episcopal Appointment for the Diocese of Trois-Rivières

On Sept. 29, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV has appointed the Most Reverend Pierre Goudreault as Bishop of the Diocese of Trois-Rivières, transferring him from the office of Bishop of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière.

Upon Bishop Goudreault’s taking canonical possession of the Diocese of Trois-Rivières, the See of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière will become vacant. In accordance with Canon 421 §1, its college of consultors must elect a diocesan administrator to govern the diocese temporarily within eight days of receiving notice of the vacancy.
The Most Reverend Pierre Goudreault

The Most Reverend Pierre Goudreault, Bishop of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, became the 41st President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops at the September 2025 meeting of the Plenary Assembly. Elected by the Plenary Assembly of Bishops for a two-year term (2025‑2027), he succeeds the Most Rev. William McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary, whose two-year term ended in September 2025.

He was born in Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, on 27 May 1963, the elder of two children of Suzanne Miljours and Denis Goudreault. In 1984, he obtained a certificate in administration from the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT). The same year, he entered Saint Paul University Seminary in Ottawa and was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Rouyn-Noranda on 18 May 1991. Bishop Goudreault obtained a doctoral degree in theology from Saint Paul University in 1998.

At the beginning of his priestly ministry, he was vicar for the Saint-Martin-de-Tours Parish in Malartic (1991-1994). During his advanced studies, he was a member of the formation team of the Saint Paul University Seminary (1994‑1996). He then became the pastor of four parishes of the Notre-Dame-de-l’Entente pastoral division (1997‑2002), then priest-moderator of Sainte-Trinité Parish in downtown Rouyn-Noranda (2002‑2017), pastor Sainte-Famille Parish in Arntfield (2011‑2013) and of Blessed Sacrament Parish (2013-2017).

Author of twelve books and thirty articles on ecclesiology and liturgy, Bishop Goudreault has been an invited speaker in some twenty dioceses in Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. He was a lecturer at the University of Moncton in New Brunswick (2006 and 2012). He has also taught in the Faculty of Theology of Saint Paul University, where he was a part-time professor for the doctoral program in practical theology (2014-2017).

On 8 December 2017, he was appointed the 6th Bishop of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière by Pope Francis, succeeding Bishop Yvon Joseph Moreau, O.C.S.O., in this role. Bishop Goudreault was ordained to the episcopate and installed as Bishop of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière on 10 March 2018 at the Cathedral of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière.

As a CCCB member, Bishop Goudreault has served as a francophone delegate to the Canadian Council of Churches since 2017. He served as the Quebec Region representative on the National Board of the Development and Peace-Caritas Canada. In 2019, he became co-treasurer of the CCCB Executive Committee. He served as Vice President from 2023 to 2025, at which time he was elected as President of the Conference.
Diocese of Trois-Rivières

The Diocese of Trois-Rivières has 14 parishes and missions. It has a Catholic population of 286,742 served by 48 diocesan priests, 17 priests who are members of institutes of consecrated life, 26 permanent deacons, 17 Brothers, as well as 103 Sisters who are members of religious institutes, in addition to 8 officially mandated lay pastoral associates.

Source: https://www.cccb.ca/media-release/episcopal-appointment-for-the-diocese-of-trois-rivieres/