1. Jean-Claude Turcotte was the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Montreal from 1990 to 2012.
19 Facts About Jean-Claude Turcotte
1. 2.
Jean-Claude Turcotte was born on 26th June 1936 as one of seven children to Paul-Emile Turcotte.
3.
Jean-Claude Turcotte was ordained a priest on 24 May 1959.
4.
When Pope John Paul visited Canada in 1984, Jean-Claude Turcotte organised his visit to Montreal.
5.
Jean-Claude Turcotte was later appointed Archbishop of Montreal on 17 March 1990.
6.
On 26 November 1994, Pope John Paul made Jean-Claude Turcotte cardinal, assigning him as a Cardinal-Priest to Nostra Signora del SS.
7.
Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte participated in the World Youth Days in 1993,1997,2000, and 2002.
8.
Jean-Claude Turcotte was known for his work with the poor and wrote a weekly religion column in the Sunday edition of the Journal de Montreal.
9.
Jean-Claude Turcotte was a voting member of the College of Cardinals in the 2005 papal conclave.
10.
Jean-Claude Turcotte was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that elected Pope Francis.
11.
Jean-Claude Turcotte died in Montreal on 8 April 2015 at the age of 78.
12.
In 2007, Turcotte presided over the funeral of Supreme Court judge Antonio Lamer, who controversially decided to remove all restrictions to abortion in Tremblay v Daigle in 1989.
13.
At the funeral, Jean-Claude Turcotte praised Lamer as "a giant of the law" and a man "who worked a great deal for justice".
14.
Jean-Claude Turcotte was not directly addressing the subject of abortion when he spoke those words.
15.
On 11 September 2008, Jean-Claude Turcotte returned his Order of Canada insignia in protest of the induction of pro-choice activist Henry Morgentaler on 1 July 2008.
16.
Jean-Claude Turcotte had hoped that the Consultative Council for the Order of Canada, but when it did not, Jean-Claude Turcotte renounced his title Officer of the Order of Canada and returned his insignia.
17.
In 2009, Jean-Claude Turcotte said in an interview that "I can understand that in certain cases, there is almost no other choice than to practice ", which was seen as controversial in light of his previous condemnation of Morgentaler.
18.
Jean-Claude Turcotte had been present at the state funeral of the former Prime Minister.
19.
Jean-Claude Turcotte was favourable to the ordination of women, at least as deacons, after a local synod proposed the idea.