Paul-Émile Léger was born April 26, 1904, in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec to Ernest Léger, a general merchant, and Alda Beauvais. He grew up in Saint-Anicet, where he served as an altar boy with his brother, Jules, and attended elementary school. He studied at Petit Séminaire de Sainte-Thérèse from 1916 to 1925, which was interrupted due to illness for almost four years beginning in January 1920. From 1925 to 1929 he studied theology at the Grand Séminaire de Montréal. Léger entered the Jesuitnovitiate at Sault-au-Récollet, but was regarded as too emotional to continue in that order. Léger was transferred to the Valleyfield diocese after becoming ordained as a priest on May 25, 1929.[1]
Léger returned to Canada to visit his parents in 1933. Later that year he left Montreal for Fukuoka, Japan, to set up a grand séminaire for educating indigenous clergy. Léger rapidly became established as a preacher and spent his first year mastering Japanese. After ten months of being in Japan, he became curé of the cathedral in Tokyo. He left that post, drained, in August 1935. The goal of the mission remained the same, but Léger faced a number of major obstacles. Although the diocese was founded in 1927 and had less than 10,000 Catholics, nothing was organized. He returned to Canada from December 1935 to October 1936 to advertise his missionary work. He remained in Japan until the beginning of World War II.[1]
Léger was appointed archbishop of Montreal on March 25, 1950 by Pope Pius XII,[1][3] and was raised to the rank of Monsignor on September 29, 1942.[citation needed] He was appointed a cardinal on November 29, 1952,[1] one of the youngest in recent history.[2] On January 12, 1953, he was given the honor of wearing the red hat, the first in Montreal. In this capacity he would perform the duties of the papal legate in Lourdes, France (1954), at St Joseph's Oratory in Montreal (1955), and in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré (1958). Léger was named a member of the Central Preparatory Commission on June 15, 1960.[1]
Later career
Léger put emphasis on the importance of love over procreation. He was also concerned with fathers being responsible. His most compelling speeches are collected in Trente textes du cardinal Léger qui ont marqué l'Église au concile et au Québec. Léger argued for more freedom of opinion. His views aligned with Pope John XXIII, who advocated for aggiornamento. His work on the Central Preparatory Commission led to close affiliations with other cardinals leading edge of modernization in the Church. In August 1962, Léger, disappointed in the preparatory schemata of the first conciliar period, petitioned John XXIII along with six of the leading European cardinals.[1]
Léger stood out as a leader during the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) even though his positions cost him some friendships and made him some enemies. His activity mainly focused on ecumenism; family, including procreation and marriage; freedom of thought within the Church; the liturgy; religious freedom; and the place of the Holy Scriptures in the Church. Despite his prominence and popularity at the Council, his rigid stances created rivalries, including with some that supported secularization, liberalization and modernization of the Church.[1]
From late December 1963 to early January 1964 Léger returned to his missionary work, travelling to Africa.[1][2] After returning to Canada, he wanted to help leprosaria with his Fame Pereo charity. He began to divest some personal belongings to help the poor. He even went as far as to propose he leave his see in Montreal to apply himself to missionary work, but Paul VI rejected it.[1]
Léger with the Quebec bishops and Archbishop Roy delicately negotiated with the government, resulting in major institutional revamping in education, health, and social services. Notably, Bill 60 led to the Department of Education's establishment in 1964. Léger saved the Church contention with the government of Quebec by adopting conservative and equitable stances.[1]
On November 9, 1967, Léger announced his resignation as archbishop of Montreal with the intent to devote himself to working among the African lepers.[4][2] This decision caused an uproar in the media and surprised the public. Léger was enthralled with Africa. There were challenges and complexities with the changing landscape of Church in Montreal, including increased population and lack of proportional increase of staff and implementation of the Vatican's directives.[1]
Léger left Montreal on December 11, 1967, making some short stops, visiting leprosaria supported by Fame Pereo, before settling in the archdiocese of Yaoundé, Cameroon. There he established around 40 aid projects. Until 1979 he dedicated himself almost completely to his ministry, interrupted by two trips back to Montreal. He served on the Pontifical Commission for Migrants and Tourism (1972–79) and on the Sacred Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (1972–84).[1]
Death
In July 1984 Léger was admitted to Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice and spent his last two years confined to a wheelchair before dying at age 87 on November 13, 1991.[1] He was the last surviving cardinal created by Pius XII.[5]
He was one of the council fathers who, in a speech delivered on October 29, 1964, concerning the document later promulgated as the Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, raised the question of a possible change in the Church's teaching on birth control. In the same speech, he urged that the document place more emphasis on conjugal love as an end or purpose of marriage.[8]
Antisemitism
He believed that the council fathers needed to issue a stronger declaration against antisemitism as a "necessary act of a renewed Church".[9]
^ abcdefghijklmnopqRouthier, Gilles (2013). "Léger, Paul-Émile". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. University of Toronto/Université Laval. Retrieved May 27, 2018.
^ abcdMarsh, James H., ed. (1999). "Léger, Paul-Émile". The Canadian Encyclopedia (2000 ed.). Toronto, Ontario: McClelland & Stewart Inc. p. 1320. ISBN9780771020995.