Jean-Claude Turcotte () (26 June 1936 – 8 April 2015) was a Canadian

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

who served as the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Montreal from 1990 to 2012.

Early life and priesthood

Jean-Claude Turcotte was born on 26 June 1936, one of the seven children of Paul-Émile Turcotte. From 1947 to 1955, Turcotte attended College André-Grasset, then the Grand Seminaire. He graduated from the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

with a degree in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

. Turcotte was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

on 24 May 1959 and undertook further studies in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

from 1964 to 1965, earning a diploma in social ministry in 1965.

Bishop and archbishop

On 14 April 1982,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

appointed him

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Suas and

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. He was consecrated on 29 June in the

Montreal Cathedral Montreal Cathedral may refer to: * The Anglican Christ Church Cathedral * The Roman Catholic Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral * The Roman Catholic former cathedral Saint-Jacques Saint-Jacques (the French name for Saint James (disambiguation), Sa ...

. Turcotte organized the Pope's the Montreal leg of the Pope's 1984 visit to Canada. Turcotte was later appointed Archbishop of Montreal on 17 March 1990. On 26 November 1994, Pope John Paul II made Turcotte a cardinal, assigning him as a

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. ...

Nostra Signora del Santissimo Sacramento e Santi Martiri Canadesi Nostra Signora del Santissimo Sacramento e dei Santi Martiri Canadesi (, " Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament and the Canadian Martyrs") is the Roman Catholic national church of Canada, located at 46, Via Giovanni Battista de Rossi, Rome. Descrip ...

. Following his elevation, he was named a member of the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, passi ...

, the

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation (Roman Curia), congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for Catholic missions, missionary work and related activities. It is also kn ...

, and the

Pontifical Council for Social Communications The Pontifical Council for Social Communications () was a dicastery of the Roman Curia that was suppressed in March 2016 and merged into the Secretariat for Communication (now the Dicastery for Communication). According to '' Pastor bonus'', Po ...

. He served as president of the Canadian Episcopal Conference from 1997 to 1999 and participated in

World Youth Day World Youth Day (WYD) is an event for the youth organized by the Catholic Church that was initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1985. Its concept has been influenced by the Light-Life Movement that has existed in Poland since the 1960s, where dur ...

s in 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2002. Turcotte was known for his work with the poor and he wrote a weekly religion column in the Sunday edition of the ''

Journal de Montréal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

''. In 1997, he commented on

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

being a

distinct society Distinct society (in ) is a political term especially used during constitutional debate in Canada, in the second half of the 1980s and in the early 1990s, and present in the two failed constitutional amendments, the Meech Lake Accord and the Cha ...

. Turcotte was a voting member (

cardinal elector A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

) of the

College of Cardinals The College of Cardinals (), also called the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. there are cardinals, of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Appointed by the pope, ...

in the

2005 papal conclave A papal conclave was held on 18 and 19 April 2005 to elect a new pope to succeed John Paul II, who had died on 2 April 2005. Of the 117 eligible cardinal electors, all but two attended. On the fourth ballot, the conclave elected Cardinal Josep ...

Margaret Hebblethwaite Margaret Isabella Mary Hebblethwaite (née Speaight; born 16 June 1951) is a British writer, journalist, activist and religious worker from London. Life The daughter of wood engraver Mary Olive (née Mudd) and historian George Speaight, Hebblethw ...

, co-author of the book ''The Next Pope'', identified him as a potential candidate ''

papabile ( , , ; plural: ; ) is an unofficial Italian term coined by Vaticanologists and used internationally in many languages to describe a Catholic man—in practice, always a cardinal—who is thought of as a likely or possible candidate to be ...

''. Other sources, including the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, also mentioned him as a long-shot possibility for pope. He was also one of the cardinal electors who participated in the

2013 papal conclave A papal conclave was held on 12 and 13 March 2013 to elect a new pope to succeed Benedict XVI, who had resigned on 28 February 2013. Of the 117 eligible Cardinal electors in the 2013 papal conclave, cardinal electors, all but two attended. On th ...

that elected

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

. Nicole Fournier, who led the Accueil Bonneau organization for the homeless, stated that Turcotte "watched over people with a look that was never judgmental, ... (and) supported many social causes, especially those touching the less fortunate, notably the homeless." John Allen wrote in the 2002 book ''Conclave'' that Turcotte was seen as a "diamond in the rough, a potentially magnificent leader who is still finding his way." Potential impediments to becoming pope included not being proficient in the

Italian language Italian (, , or , ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It evolved from the colloquial Latin of the Roman Empire. Italian is the least divergent language from Latin, together with Sardinian language, Sardinian. It is ...

and his lack of international experience.

Death

Turcotte died in Montreal on 8 April 2015, at the age of 78.

Views

Abortion

In 2007, Turcotte presided over the funeral of Supreme Court Justice

Antonio Lamer Joseph Antonio Charles Lamer (July 8, 1933 – November 24, 2007) was a Canadian lawyer and jurist who served as the 16th Chief Justice of Canada from 1990 to 2000. Career Lamer practised in partnership at the firm of Cutler, Lamer, Bellemare ...

, who had written the court's opinion in Tremblay v. Daigle (1989), which removed all restrictions on

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

. At the funeral, he praised Lamer as "a giant of the law" and a man "who worked a great deal for justice," without directly addressing the abortion ruling. On 11 September 2008, Turcotte returned his

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

insignia (appointed in 1996) in protest of the induction of pro-choice activist

Henry Morgentaler Henekh "Henry" Morgentaler (March 19, 1923 – May 29, 2013), was a Polish-born Canadian physician, and abortion rights advocate who fought numerous legal battles aimed at expanding abortion rights in Canada. As a Jewish youth during World War ...

on 1 July 2008. After the Consultative Council for the

did not reconsider the appointment, Turcotte renounced his title as Officer of the Order of Canada and returned his insignia, becoming effective on 1 June 2009. In a 2009 interview, Turcotte stated, "I can understand that in certain cases, there is almost no other choice than to practice (abortion)," which was viewed as controversial given his previous stance on Morgentaler.

Political ties

In 2004, he criticized statements by former minister

Sheila Copps Sheila Maureen Copps (born November 27, 1952) is a former Canadian politician who also served as the sixth deputy prime minister of Canada from November 4, 1993, to April 30, 1996, and June 19, 1996, to June 11, 1997. Her father, Victor Copps, ...

regarding Turcotte's relationship with

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

. He was present at Trudeau's

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

Women's ordination

Turcotte was reportedly favorable to the ordination of women as deacons after a local

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

proposed the idea.
Montreal Catholics vote for women, married men as priests
/ref>

Brian Boucher controversy

An investigative report commissioned by the church found that Turcotte was among Archdiocese of Montreal officials who failed to act on complaints that priest Brian Boucher was sexually abusing boys. Quebec Superior Court Justice Pepita Capriolo led the inquiry, and the report was released on 25 November 2020. Boucher pleaded guilty to sex abuse charges in January 2019 and received an eight-year prison sentence.

References

External links

* Accueil Bonneau * on
Cardinal Turcotte
o
catholic-hierarchy.org

(

Le Canal Nouvelles Le Canal Nouvelles (LCN) is a Canadian French language discretionary service 24-hour headline news channel owned by Groupe TVA, a division of Québecor. Its broadcasting headquarters are located in Montreal, Quebec. The channel, operated and pro ...

, 2 April 2005; in French) * "Declaration by Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, Archbishop of Montrea

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turcotte, Jean-Claude 2015 deaths 1936 births Roman Catholic archbishops of Montreal Canadian cardinals Canadian columnists Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Members of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications Members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints