Richard Gagnon

Richard Joseph Gagnon (born June 17, 1948) is a Canadian bishop of the Catholic Church.

Gagnon was born in Lethbridge, Alberta, on June 17, 1948, to Thérèse Demers Gagnon and George Gagnon.

He is a Franco-Albertan, given his family's ancestral roots in Quebec.

Through his matrilineal line, he is "closely related" to, and a collateral descendant of, Modeste Demers, the first Bishop of Vancouver Island (since renamed to the Diocese of Victoria).

The Gagnon family moved to British Columbia (BC) during his childhood, and he graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas Regional Secondary School in North Vancouver.

Gagnon went on to study philosophy, history and English at Simon Fraser University, obtaining a BC Teaching Certificate in 1976.

He subsequently taught at a public school as a band teacher, and could play the clarinet, flute, and saxophone.

Starting in 1978, he attended seminary at the Pontifical Beda College in Rome.

Gagnon oversaw the conclusion of a financial and legal debacle for the Diocese of Victoria that began in the 1980s under his predecessor, Remi De Roo.

It saw the lending of diocesan funds for an investment in Washington state that subsequently failed.

He was ordained a priest in 1983 and served in the Archdiocese of Vancouver as an assistant pastor and parish priest for two decades.

On June 24, 1983, Gagnon was ordained to the Catholic priesthood at Holy Rosary Cathedral by James Carney, the Archbishop of Vancouver at the time.

Gagnon's first pastoral assignment was as assistant parish priest at St. Mary's Parish in Vancouver, which he began one month after his ordination.

He was then transferred to Corpus Christi Parish as an assistant the following year, before becoming a full-fledged pastor at St. Jude's Parish in 1986.

He later served as the first parish priest of St. James Parish in Abbotsford from 1993 until 2002, during which time he was also Dean of the Fraser Valley East Deanery.

He became vicar general of the archdiocese in 2002 and was consecrated as a bishop two years later.

Gagnon has been noted for his work toward reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in Victoria and Winnipeg.

He is also noted for calling the first diocesan synod in the Archdiocese of Winnipeg.

In March 2002, Gagnon succeeded David Monroe as both pastor of St. John the Apostle Parish and vicar general of the archdiocese, after the latter was appointed as Bishop of Kamloops earlier in January.

Gagnon was made a Prelate of Honour of His Holiness in February 2003, in recognition of his service and dedication to the local church.

Adam Exner, the Archbishop of Vancouver, noted at the investiture ceremony that Gagnon had "rendered outstanding distinguished service in the Church in Vancouver as a loving, effective, and dedicated pastor, a man who is ever ready to meet new challenges – a servant ready to go wherever called."

Gagnon was appointed as the sixteenth Bishop of Victoria, British Columbia, on May 14, 2004.

The see had been vacant since January of that year, when Raymond Roussin was appointed as Archbishop of Vancouver.

Gagnon was succeeded as Vancouver's vicar general by Mark Hagemoen.

He was consecrated bishop and installed on July 20, 2004, at St. Andrew's Cathedral in Victoria, with Roussin serving as the principal consecrator.

The red field and gold Latin cross in his coat of arms was influenced by that of Modeste Demers, Gagnon's aforementioned ancestor and predecessor as bishop of the diocese.

Gagnon made his first ad limina visit to the Holy See on October 2, 2006, together with four other bishops from the Assembly of Western Catholic Bishops (AWCB).

In November 2006, the diocese sold its land in Washington, enabling it to settle its debts completely – this included "full payment to the bond owners", many of whom were parishioners.

At a parish town hall meeting, Gagnon contended that Favero had requested to resign in late spring of 2006 – before the issue arose – for personal reasons, with Gagnon asking him to remain.

Two months later, in January 2007, the Diocese won an appeal at the Washington Court of Appeals, successfully reversing a 2005 judgment against it for US$8.5 million in damages for breach of contract.

Controversy erupted when Mike Favero, the pastor of Holy Cross Parish for three years, was seemingly forced to step down on January 18, 2007.

This occurred three weeks after the resignation of a gay church administrator.

Parishioners alleged that it was Favero's refusal to dismiss the administrator that led to himself being forced out by Gagnon, which Favero later confirmed in an interview with a local television station and to the Times Colonist.

When the situation became increasingly difficult in November, Favero again requested a sabbatical that would have started in spring 2007.

Gagnon also admonished the parish's lay leaders for failing to engender a sense of “balance, fairness and confidentiality to this matter".

Consequently, Favero broke his silence to refute the assertions made at the parish meeting.

He expounded how Gagnon requested that he "reorganize the church office" and remove the administrator, without bringing up his sexual orientation.

He is the Archbishop of Winnipeg, appointed to the position in 2014 after previously serving as the Bishop of Victoria.

He has also served as President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) since September 2019.

Gagnon attended high school and university in Greater Vancouver, before studying for the priesthood at the Pontifical Beda College in Rome.