Édouard Gagnon was born in
Port-Daniel, Quebec, one of 13 children. His mother was part Irish, his father a French Canadian carpenter. In 1921 the family moved to the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighborhood in Montreal, where he received his primary education. In 1936 he earned a
Bachelor of Arts from the
University of Montreal, before entering the
major seminary of
Montreal, where he received a
doctorate degree in
theology in 1941. While there, he served as a part-time secretary of the Diocesan Marriage Tribunal. He was
ordained on 15 August 1940. He then studied at the
University of Laval in
Quebec from 1941 to 1944, receiving a doctorate in
canon law. Father Gagnon was admitted to the
Society of St Sulpice in 1945. Upon his return to Montreal, he taught moral theology and canon law at the Grand Seminary from 1945 to 1954. He joined the Knights of Columbus in 1950 and was a member of St. Boniface Council 3158 in Manitoba. He was rector of the major seminary of
Saint Boniface from 1954 to 1960, and then director of the major seminary in
Manizales,
Colombia. Gagnon was elected Provincial of the
Society of Saint-Sulpice for
Canada,
Japan and
Latin America. During this time, he also acted as a peritus (theologian advisor and consultant) during the
Second Vatican Council, especially during the 3rd and 4th sessions (1964-1965). He became secretary of the
Pontifical Council for Social Communications in 1966. In June 1968, he was appointed one of the thirty consultors of the Congregation for Catholic Education. He attended the
Synod of Bishops in 1985 and in 1987. In 1991, he was appointed President of the
Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses. In 1993, he was made an Officer of the
Order of Canada. He opposed the legalisation of
same-sex marriage in Canada in 2005. He died on August 25, 2007, in
Montreal at the
Saint-Sulpice Seminary. The funeral Mass was at Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal. On hearing of his death,
Pope Benedict XVI said that Cardinal Gagnon was a "faithful pastor who, with an evangelical spirit, consecrated his life in service to Christ and his Church." ==Special Assignments==