Alexandria-Cornwall diocese welcomes new auxiliary bishop
Lois Ann Baker
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Published on: December 12, 2018 | Last Updated: December 12, 2018 5:31 PM EST
The new Alexandria-Cornwall Auxiliary Bishop Guy Desrochers, with Bishop Terrence Prendergast, on Wednesday December 12, 2018 in Cornwall, Ont. Lois Ann Baker/Cornwall Standard-Freeholder/Postmedia Network Lois Ann Baker / Lois Ann Baker/Standard-Freeholder
It might have taken him a while before answering the call, but thankfully for the Archdiocese of Alexandria-Cornwall, he did.
Pope Francis has appointed Rev. Guy Desrochers to the position of auxiliary bishop of Alexandria-Cornwall, an announcement shared with the community on Wednesday morning.
Desrochers met with media Wednesday afternoon, sharing his path to becoming a priest and arriving in Cornwall.
"I left the church when I was 14," said Desrochers. "I didn't go to church again until I was 24. I even told my mom that God doesn't exist."
Desrochers said his mother said she would pray for him, and his thought was, 'well, it wouldn't hurt.'
"When I turned 23, she gave me a Bible for my birthday," he said. "I chuckled about that and told my brother she wanted to convert me."
Desrochers said he brought the Bible home and left it for over a year until his father became ill and was hospitalized for cardiac problems.
"He had a 50 per cent chance he would die on the operating table," said Desrochers. "This is when my life changed. I started asking myself questions, like what is the meaning of life? Why are we put on Earth just to be put in a black hole after studying and working for your pension then you die.
"He was only 55, my dad, and I loved him very dearly."
Desrochers said a little voice inside of him told him to read his Bible, all the answers were there.
"I looked up and said no way, I was never going to open that Bible," he said. "I know there was a voice that said what I was doing was not right."
Desrochers said the voice returned a second time a week later, but again, he thought his life was complete as it was.
"Then the third week, the little voice came a third and last time and I gave in," he said.
He started reading the New Testament every night, but pride kept him from telling anyone what he was reading.
"It was like a fire in my heart. I started to believe in God and seeing the answers he had for my questions about the meaning of life," he said. "I started asking him in my prayers and my gosh, he started answering right away."
Desrochers said his father not only survived the operation, but lived until he was 86.
"He converted, too," he said. "The whole family converted. We are five children and all the five children converted, all at different times when we were ready."
Desrochers said he answered the call about a year and a half after his conversion.
"I heard the call after six months but I said no," he said. "I was asking what can I do to do your will today, Lord? Then all of a sudden I heard 'priest.' I said no, never; I wanted to be married and have children. But I kept doing the prayer and a year later I heard the word priest again. I said Lord, I don't want to."
But Desrochers said he asked himself why he was being so stubborn.
"It was my pride," he said. "I was afraid to be rejected by friends at work, what are they going to say, what is my family going to say? It was all about pride."
Desrochers said the decision to become a priest had to come form his own free will. He felt he had to want to become a priest.
"And six months later, sure enough," he said. "The world needs priests. Priests are close to people and understand people."
Desrochers said he is not a stranger to the Alexandria-Cornwall diocese as he has been here many times. He was recently in Prince Edward Island and the United States at different churches. But still, he was surprised to get the call offering him the position of auxiliary bishop.
"I said they must be making a mistake," he said. "Maybe they think I'm someone else."
Desrochers said he wanted to be a holy bishop as well as a holy priest.
"It's not to be just an administrator or a good leader," he said. "It's more about being a man of God, being inspired by God in what you do and letting him guide me in the work he is giving to me. It's a call for holiness. It's scary in a way because I have to give some account too. But I am taking one day at a time."
Desrochers will be formally ordained on Feb. 22 at St. Finnan's Cathedral in Alexandria.
His appointment brings to an end the process started when Bishop Marcel Damphousse was transferred to another diocese in early 2016. The Vatican appointed Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast as apostolic administrator later that year. Earlier this year, Prendergast was appointed as Alexandria-Cornwall's bishop, a decision that included the announcement an auxiliary bishop would be selected to serve full-time within the diocese.
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