VANCOUVER (CCN) — Days after receiving the woolen pallium as a symbol of unity from Pope Leo XIV, four Canadian metropolitan archbishops returned from Rome amid a Church confronting fresh division after the Vatican declared the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X “schismatic” and its adherents excommunicated.
Canadian Catholic News reached two of the new metropolitan archbishops, who described receiving the pallium and spoke about the responsibility to keep their flocks united.
“Unity has always been our mission, but even more in the times we are living now,” Archbishop Charles Duval, CSsR, of Grouard-McLennan, Alberta, told CCN.
He said the pope’s call for archbishops “to be like St. Peter and St. Paul, builders of unity, came to me as a confirmation of what is important for an archbishop today, but also what should be important to any Christian.”
Duval was among 35 archbishops from around the world who had gathered for the Pallium Mass with Pope Leo at St. Peter’s Basilica June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. In his homily, the pope noted how the two apostles illustrated unity amid disputes, with Peter gathering the Church on the question of baptizing Gentiles, and Paul rebuking Peter when necessary.
Duval reflected on the declaration of schism, announced July 2 after the SSPX consecrated four bishops without papal permission. When he learned of the schism, “I realized how heavy these words must have been for the Holy Father to say that day,” he said.
The pallium is a symbol of unity for the archbishop as well as for the faithful, he added. “So everyone who sees it may feel the same call to be faithful to following Jesus, his teaching, and the teachings of the Holy Spirit.”
Archbishop Stephen Hero of Edmonton told CCN the experience of receiving the pallium was “a tremendous experience of grace” that highlighted the mission for archbishops to be shepherds for their people in their own struggles.
He described the woolen pallium — decorated with wound-like crosses — as a reminder of Christ, “both Lamb of God and Good Shepherd, as the source of life and communion in the Church.”
For Hero, receiving the pallium reinforced the Pope’s call for archbishops “to maintain communion with Christ in the Church with the successor of Peter and to be builders of unity.”
The liturgy also left a personal impression on both men.
Hero said it made him conscious of his mission “to visibly bear the gentle yoke of the Gospel, to be a shepherd after Christ’s own heart, and to strive to carry the flock of Christ entrusted to me with their wounds and particular needs.”
Duval described the emotions he felt during the liturgy, the first time he had ever concelebrated Mass at the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica. “What stood out for me … was the eagerness of the people in attendance that day,” many of them attending because they knew one or more archbishops receiving the pallium.
“The joy on their faces during the entrance and final procession … was a real treat for me.”
Duval said he remained hopeful following the week’s events.
“I pray that despite divisions in the Church and in the world,” he said, “the eagerness of the people from all over the world who were present that day in St. Peter’s Basilica will strengthen in them the desire as they go back home to be peacemakers and help unity be restored where division reigns.”
The other Canadian archbishops to receive the pallium that day, along with Hero and Duval, were Archbishop Guy Boulanger of Sherbrooke, Quebec and Archbishop Susai Jesu, OMI, of Keewatin-Le Pas, Manitoba.
Read the short profiles on each new archbishop below.
Archbishop Guy Boulanger of Sherbrooke, Quebec
Archbishop Guy Boulanger was born June 6, 1963, in Sainte-Cécile-de-Whitton, Quebec. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Sherbrooke on Oct. 26, 1991, and later earned a doctorate in canon law from Saint Paul University in Ottawa. His principal archdiocesan roles included chancellor, judicial vicar, rector of the Grand Séminaire des Saints-Apôtres and vicar general.
Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Rouyn-Noranda in January 2020; he was ordained a bishop Aug. 28, 2020. In September 2023, he was also appointed bishop of Amos, with the two dioceses united “in persona episcopi.” Pope Leo XIV appointed him archbishop of Sherbrooke April 10, 2026.
Archbishop Susai Jesu, OMI, of Keewatin-Le Pas, Manitoba
Archbishop Susai Jesu was born in 1971 in Pushpavanam, Tamil Nadu, India. A member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, he was ordained a priest June 27, 2000. He came to Canada in 2007 and served in Indigenous communities in northern Saskatchewan before becoming pastor of Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples in Edmonton, a position he held from 2017 to 2025.
He also ministered to Edmonton’s Tamil and Ge’ez-rite communities and served as an adviser to the archbishop of Edmonton on Indigenous relations, healing and reconciliation. In 2025, he became a councillor of the Oblates’ Lacombe Province and pastor of Lac Ste. Anne Parish, Alberta, with responsibility for several neighbouring First Nations communities. Pope Leo XIV appointed him archbishop of Keewatin-Le Pas Nov. 17, 2025.
Archbishop Stephen A. Hero of Edmonton
Archbishop Stephen Hero was born Dec. 19, 1969, in Lachine, Quebec. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Edmonton June 29, 2000, and earned licentiates in sacred theology and liturgical theology in Rome. After parish and vocations work, he joined the formation staff of St. Joseph Seminary and taught spirituality, liturgy and sacraments at Newman Theological College.
He became vice-rector of St. Joseph Seminary in 2010 and rector in 2012. Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, in March 2021, and he was ordained a bishop June 11, 2021. Pope Leo XIV appointed him the eighth archbishop of Edmonton on Nov. 21, 2025. He has served on the commissions for doctrine and for liturgy and the sacraments of the Canadian Conference for Catholic Bishops.
Archbishop Charles Duval, CSsR, of Grouard-McLennan, Alberta
Archbishop Charles Duval was born April 12, 1964, in Hull, now Gatineau, Quebec. He entered the Redemptorists in 1985, and was ordained a priest June 12, 1993. His ministry has included parish work, youth and vocations ministry, service in Haiti and membership in the Redemptorists’ General Secretariat for Formation in Rome.
He served as provincial superior of the Redemptorists’ Province of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré from 2015 to 2019 and as the first provincial superior of the unified Canadian province from 2019 to 2023. He then became superior and pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Grande Prairie, Alberta. Pope Francis appointed him coadjutor archbishop of Grouard-McLennan on Feb. 14, 2025, with the right of succession; he became metropolitan archbishop Sept. 6, 2025.
