EMARD, JOSEPH MÉDARD

Archbishop, educator; b. St. Constant, Canada, April 1, 1853; d. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, March 28, 1927. He was the son of Médard and Mathilde (Beaudin) Emard. After pursuing classical studies at the Seminary of St. Thérèse and theology at the Grand Seminary, Montreal, he was ordained at Montreal June 10, 1876, and was appointed curate of Mile End (1876–80). He subsequently spent three years at Rome and received doctorates in theology and Canon Law. Before returning to Canada he toured the Holy Land. From 1880 to 1887 he served as pastor of St. Joseph's parish, Montreal. He lectured in ecclesiastical history at Laval University, Quebec, where he served as vice chancellor (1886–89) and was named chancellor (1889). In 1891 he became a canon of the cathedral and a year later was appointed bishop of Valleyfield when that diocese was established April 5, 1892. He was consecrated by Abp. E. C. Fabre of Montreal on June 9, 1892, and proved to be a talented administrator. He organized diocesan works, wrote several important pastoral letters, and founded a classical college affiliated with Laval University, as well as a kindergarten and a normal school for young women. He also introduced a community of Poor Clares. Emard took an active part in the First Plenary Council of Quebec (1909). While bishop of Valleyfield he served as ordinary for the Canadian armed forces during World War I. He was made assistant to the pontifical throne (1917) and promoted to the archiepiscopal See of Ottawa (June 2, 1922), where he was installed on September 20. He was the author of Souvenirs d'un voyage en Terre-Sainte (Montreal 1884), and several short works, instructions, and pastoral letters, which he compiled in his Oeuvres complètes (5 v. Montreal 1921–24). His pastoral letter Congrès Eucharistique de Montreal was quoted at length by Cardinal Vincenzo Vannutelli during that congress at Montreal in 1910.

[j. t. flynn]