Bishop Pierre-Adolphe Pinsonnault, (also Pinsonnault or Pinsonault), (23 November 1815 – 30 January 1883), was born in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

and became a

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 ...

priest in the

Sulpician The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (; PSS), also known as the Sulpicians, is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men, named after the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, where it was founded. The members of the Society add the ...

Order. Pinsoneault served as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of London, Ontario from 1856 to 1866 in an atmosphere of turbulence. There was an initial adverse reaction to a French-speaking bishop taking over the London church as the cathedral of the new diocese. A variety of events occurred both with priests and parishioners during his tenure and, in 1866, Bishop

Ignace Bourget Ignace Bourget (; October 30, 1799 – June 8, 1885) was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest who held the title of Bishop of Montreal from 1840 to 1876. Born in Lévis, Quebec, in 1799, Bourget entered the clergy at an early age, undertook several ...

, as result of an earlier request by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

, asked for and received Pinsonnault's resignation. After his resignation, Bishop Pinsoneault was assigned as bishop to the titular see of Birtha and resided in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

, until 1869. He then moved to Montreal. Quebec, where he performed various duties that required a bishop for the

ultramontane Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented by ...

Bishop Bouget. He died in Montreal at the age of 67, his episcopacy a failure due largely to his disregard for others and his authoritarian style.

References

External links

Catholic-Hierarchy profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinsonnault, Pierre-Adolphe 1815 births 1883 deaths Roman Catholic bishops of London, Ontario 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Canada People from Montérégie Sulpicians Sulpician bishops Baby family (Canada)