Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, renewed the mandate of Father Yoland Ouellet, O.M.I., as National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in French-speaking Canada for a second period of five years.

By OPM Canada

As soon as he took office in 2016, Father Ouellet saw the need to take on three challenges: build awareness of the Pontifical Mission Societies among the younger generations; work on the organization’s image for greater visibility in Canada; and ensure missionary animation. These are some of the key reasons why he embarked on a communicational shift within the Pontifical Mission Societies in French-speaking Canada, helping the organization to adapt, among other things, to an increasingly digital reality.

"It is with joy and humility that I take on this new mandate," said Father Ouellet. “We have accomplished great things over the past five years. I think of the trips we made to several countries where we have seen, with our own eyes, the projects that Canadians have helped us support. I think of the various international gatherings we have attended, including the 5th Missionary Congress of America (Bolivia, 2018). Without forgetting the beautiful celebration of the Extraordinary Missionary Month of 2019 and, more recently, the shift we have taken in the field of communications. I wish to continue our efforts in this direction."

Father Ouellet was born in 1959 in Grand Falls, in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. He joined the Congregation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) in 1984 where he took his final vows in 1988. He obtained his master's degree as well as his ecclesiastical license in theology from Saint Paul University in Ottawa. Father Ouellet was ordained a priest in 1989 and was pastor of the Saint-Pierre-Apôtre and the Sainte-Brigide parishes in the Archdiocese of Montreal for a period of 6 years. In 2011, he was appointed rector of the Our Lady of the Cape Shrine (Trois-Rivieres), the second largest shrine to the Virgin Mary in North America, where he served until October 2015. In 2018, he was appointed to the International Committee of the Pontifical Mission Societies which is responsible for assessing concerns related to fundraising.

About Pontifical Mission Societies

The Pontifical Mission Societies support the poorest dioceses in the world and are present in some 120 countries on five continents. They are divided into four organizations and are under the responsibility of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (Vatican). Today, they constitute the worldwide network of prayer and charity for the mission of the Church, at the service of the Pope. Visit opmcanada.ca.