HOF065: Pierre Blanchard

Monseigneur Pierre Blanchard was born in Montreal in 1945. He was ordained a priest in May 31, 1969. He was first curate in a parish in the Ahuntsic neighborhood of Montreal where he worked for 3 years; later he was a pastoral school animator for 13 years in a secondary school north of Montreal.

He was parish priest in several parishes in Montreal. From 1997 to 1999, he assumed responsibility for the missionary ministry of the diocese. It was then that the Archbishop of the time asked him to become Episcopal Vicar to the Cultural and Ritual Communities, a position he held until 2003, the year he was appointed Episcopal Vicar of one of the 6 regions of the diocese. He served in this region until 2012.

In 2016, the Archbishop of Montreal asked him once again to take over the post of Episcopal Vicar for Cultural and Ritual Communities, a position he occupies to this day.

It was while he was working in the school community that his ministry began with refugees from Southeast Asia following the sponsorship of a Cambodian family as well as numerous visits to refugee camps in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Thailand.

In addition, during his years volunteering with refugees, he sponsored seventeen young Vietnamese people and with their support, adopted another. He has fond memories of his commitments to these young men, who have become brothers, having rubbed shoulders with each other on their way to adulthood.