Edouard Gagnon

Édouard Gagnon, OC (January 15, 1918 – August 25, 2007) was a Canadian Roman Catholic cardinal and President of the Pontifical Council for the Family for 16 years, from 1974 to 1990. He became a cardinal on May 25, 1985.

Édouard Gagnon was born in Port-Daniel, Quebec, one of 13 children. His mother was part Irish, his father a French Canadian carpenter. In 1921 the family moved to the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighborhood in Montreal, where he received his primary education. In 1936 he earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Montreal, before entering the major seminary of Montreal, where he received a doctorate degree in theology in 1941. While there her served as a part-time secretary of the Diocesan Marriage Tribunal. He was ordained on 15 August 1940. He then studied at the University of Laval in Quebec from 1941 to 1944, receiving a doctorate in canon law.

Father Gagnon was admitted to the Society of St Sulpice in 1945. Upon his return to Montreal, he taught moral theology and canon law at the Grand Seminary from 1945 to 1954. He joined the Knights of Columbus in 1950 and was a member of St. Boniface Council 3158 in Manitoba. He was rector of the major seminary of Saint Boniface from 1954 to 1960, and then director of the major seminary in Manizales, Colombia. Gagnon was elected Provincial of the Society of Saint-Sulpice for Canada, Japan and Latin America. During this time he also acted as a peritus (theologian advisor and consultant) during the Vatican Council II Second Vatican Council especially during the 3rd and 4th sessions (1964-1965). He became secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications in 1966. In June 1968, he was appointed one of the thirty consultors of the Congregation for Catholic Education.

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