As of this morning, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie has a new bishop.
Upon reaching the age of 75, Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe has resigned his post after 29 years of ministry in the diocese, as required by the Code of Canon Law, the diocese stated in a press release today.
Pope Francis announced today Plouffe’s replacement is Bishop Marcel Damphousse, who was, until this morning, bishop of Alexandria-Cornwall.
Born in St. Joseph, Man., Damphousse was ordained a priest in 1991 for the Archdiocese of Saint-Boniface. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 1984 at the University College of Saint Boniface, followed by a Bachelor’s degree in Theology in 1989 from Saint Paul University, Ottawa.
In 2002, he received a Licentiate in Spiritual Theology from the Teresianum, a Carmelite Pontifical Theological Faculty in Rome. For a number of years, Bishop Damphousse taught at the Manitoba Catholic School of Evangelization, and was Diocesan Vocations Director for 12 years.
He was Rector of the Saint-Boniface Cathedral in Manitoba when, on June 28, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named him bishop of Alexandria-Cornwall in southern Ontario.
Bishop Damphousse becomes the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie. With the date of his installation to be announced later, Plouffe will assume the role of apostolic administrator of the diocese, which spans a large part of northeastern Ontario, including the districts of West Nipissing, Sudbury, Manitoulin Island and Algoma.