Military Ordinariate of Canada
Ordinariatus Militaris Canadensis
Ordinariat militaire du Canada
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The Coat of Arms of the Military Ordinariate of Canada
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| Location | |
| Country | Canada |
| Ecclesiastical province | Immediately exempt to the Holy See |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Sui iuris church | Latin Church |
| Rite | Multiple (primarily the Roman Rite) |
| Established | 17 February 1951; 73 years ago (1951-02-17) |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Bishop | Scott McCaig, C.C. |
The Military Ordinariate of Canada (French: Ordinariat militaire du Canada, Latin: Ordinariatus Militaris Canadensis) is a Latin Church military ordinariate of the Catholic Church.
It is immediately exempt to the Holy See and its Roman Congregation for Bishops. With no cathedral, the ordinariate's headquarters are at Canadian Forces Support Unit (Ottawa), Uplands site - Building 469, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K2. The current episcopal Ordinary is Scott McCaig. The Roman Catholic Military Ordinary is a member of the ecumenical Interfaith Committee on Canadian Military Chaplaincy (ICCMC).
Catholic chaplains provide a wide range of religious and spiritual services to Canadian Armed Forces members and their families, such as the celebration of the Sacraments, counselling and religious formation. As per 2014, it provides pastoral care to Roman Catholics serving in the Canadian Forces and their families in 22 parishes with 37 priests (36 diocesan, 1 religious), 7 deacons and 1 lay religious brother.[1]
The military vicariate of Canada was canonically erected on 17 February 1951 by Pope Pius XII, but Catholic Military bishops have served the Canadian Army since 1939.
The need to appoint a bishop was only felt during the Second World War, while chaplains had already been represented since the Boer War.
On 1986.07.21 it was promoted as Military Ordinariate of Canada. Since the promulgation of the apostolic constitution Spirituali militum curaebyPope John Paul II, the administration of chaplaincies was made much easier.
On 7 September 2020, Canadian Armed Forces spokesman Maj. Travis Smyth acknowledged that Capt. Jean El-Dahdouh, a Montreal-based Maronite Order military chaplain found guilty the previous year of assault and sexual assault after a series of incidents at the upscale Nordik Spa-Nature in Chelsea, Quebec, was still a member of the Canadian military, but he was now expected to soon be released from the armed forces.[2] On 16 November 2020, documents which the Canadian Forces sought keep sealing for 40 years were public. The documents revealed that Canadian Forces knew that Catholic Chaplain Capt. Angus McRae had victims before his 1980 sex abuse conviction for children to his quarters at an Edmonton military base and gave them alcohol before sexually assaulting them.[3]
It twice had an Auxiliary Bishop of the Military Vicariate :
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Hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Canada
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| Province of Edmonton |
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| Province of Gatineau |
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| Province of Grouard–McLennan |
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| Province of Halifax–Yarmouth |
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| Province of Keewatin–Le Pas |
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| Province of Kingston |
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| Province of Moncton |
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| Province of Montreal |
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| Province of Ottawa–Cornwall |
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| Province of Québec |
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| Province of Regina |
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| Province of Rimouski |
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| Province of Saint Boniface |
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| Province of St. John's |
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| Province of Sherbrooke |
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| Province of Toronto |
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| Province of Vancouver |
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| Metropolia of Winnipeg |
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| Exempt from the Holy See |
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| Former jurisdictions |
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| Apostolic Nuncio | |
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| Africa |
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| Asia |
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| Europe |
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| North America |
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| Oceania |
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| South America |
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