Ignace Bourget - Montreal, Quebec
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 45° 29.965 W 073° 34.161
18T E 611773 N 5039427
Statue of priest who served as the second bishop of Montreal, who was instrumental in the building of the Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral in Montreal.
Waymark Code: WMB2PV
Location: Québec, Canada
Date Posted: 03/27/2011
Published By:
3am
Views: 68
"Ignace Bourget (October 30, 1799 – June 8, 1885) was a French-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 courses of religious study, and in 1837 was named co-adjutor bishop of the newly created bishopric of Montreal. Following the death of Jean-Jacques Lartigue in 1840, Bourget became Bishop of Montreal.
During the 1840s, Bourget led the expansion of the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec. He encouraged the immigration of European missionary societies, including the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the Jesuits, the Society of the Sacred Heart and the Good Shepherd Sisters. He also established entirely new religious communities including the Sisters of Charity of Saint-Hyacinthe, Sisters of Saint Ann, Sisters of Providence, and the Institute of Misericordia Sisters. He commissioned the construction of St James Cathedral, known today as Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral, and played a key role in the establishment of the Université Laval and the Hospice of the Holy Child Jesus.
Bourget was a fierce ultramontanist, supporting the supreme authority of the Pope in matters both secular and spiritual. He frequently clashed with the Canadian secular authorities, most notably through his attacks on the anti-clericist Institut Canadien de Montréal, his defence of parochial schooling in New Brunswick, and his refusal to grant a Catholic burial to excommunicant Joseph Guibord. In 1876, facing an inquiry by the Vatican into his increasing involvement in secular politics, Bourget resigned as Bishop of Montreal and retired to Sault-au-Récollet, where he continued to take an active role in church life until his death in 1885." - Wikipedia
The statue is by sculptor Philippe Hébert and stands just west of the entrance to the Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral. The main statue was cast in Brussels and the bronze bas-reliefs were cast in Paris. The statue of Ignace Bourget, he is wearing canonical clothes, holding a document in one hand and his other is raised in the air as if he is gesturing to a crowd. There are two allegorical figures representing the virtues of charity and religion at the base of the granite pedestal on which the main statue stands. On the pedestal there are bas-reliefs of scenes from Ignace Bourget's life.