Grandin, Vital

views updated

GRANDIN, VITAL

Missionary, bishop of St. Albert, Canada; b. St. Pierre-la-Cour, France, Feb. 8, 1829; d. St. Albert, June 3, 1902. After a brief trial period with the Foreign Missions of Paris, he entered the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1851 and was ordained April 23, 1854. He was sent to the missions of Rivière-Rouge, Canada, took up residence in Île-à-la-Crosse, Saskatchewan (1855), and visited the Northwest Territories (1856). On Dec. 21, 1857, Grandin was named auxiliary bishop of St. Boniface, but he did not hear of the appointment until 1859. After consecration in Marseilles, France, Nov. 30, 1859, he settled first in Île-à-la-Crosse (186069) and then in St. Albert, to which he was appointed bishop in 1871. His efforts during the Métis revolt (1855) and in defense of the rights of native North Americans and of Catholic schools were dynamic and effective. The case for his canonization was presented in Rome in 1937.

Bibliography: p. e. breton, Vital Grandin (Paris 1960).

[g. carriÈre]