The new Archbishop-elect of Gatineau--a profile

Bishop Durocher describes Quebec Catholics as more like pilgrims than residents
By Deborah Gyapong
Canadian Catholic News

OTTAWA (CCN)-- Bishop Paul-Andre Durocher of Alexandria-Cornwall looks to Jesus on the Road to Emmaus as a model guiding him in his new appointment as Archbishop of Gatineau, a major Quebec See opposite Ottawa in the National Capital Region.

Just as Jesus asked the travelers on the road what they were talking about and what concerned them before he opened up the Scripture to them and broke bread with them, Bishop Durocher sees his task as one of discovering the hungers and spiritual needs of the people in his new archdiocese e and hearing their stories.

Fluent in French and English, Bishop Durocher said despite his familiarity with the Franco-Ontarian community, he expects to encounter some cultural differences in Quebec.

A “different style of belonging to the Catholic Church” has developed in Quebec over the last 40 years, he said. The great majority consider themselves Roman Catholic, “but their belongingness is not typically exhibited by weekly attendance at Mass.”

“The belongingness” of Catholics in Quebec “is more like that of a pilgrim than a resident,” he said, noting a pilgrim journeys alone, stopping at various locations with different meanings.

“The pilgrim is always on the road,” he said. “The typical Catholic in Quebec will tend to find spiritual meaning in a book, a concert, a church service here and there, or perhaps going to St. Joseph’s Oratory with a spiritual director they meet with occasionally.”

“As a Church we’re not structured to accompany that kind of journey,” he said, noting the challenge is to find “how we can best help our people to grow in Christ.”