Gagnon, who was named Gaspé’s bishop in 2002, offered his resignation upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75.

Prouxl, 69, had served as Prior of the Canadian Servite Province since 2000 and as pastor and administrator of the Quebec archdiocese’s Notre-Dame-de-Foy Parish until his Dec. 12, 2011 appointment as auxiliary bishop. 

A native of Saint-Dénis-de-Brompton, Quebec, Prouxl joined the Servite order, then studied philosophy at Dominican University College in Ottawa and went on to obtain a Master’s of Theology at Laval University in Quebec.

After his ordination to the priesthood in 1975, Prouxl worked as an assistant and master of novices for his religious community until 1985, when he went to France to serve in the dioceses of Séez and Belley-Ars. In 1989, Prouxl moved to Brussels to take on the role of Master of Formation for the Servites of France, Belgium and the Democratic Republic of Congo. After two years, he returned to Quebec to serve as Master of Formation for the Servites of Quebec and do parish ministry at Quebec City’s Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-la-Salle parish.

Gagnon was ordained to the priesthood in the Quebec archdiocese in 1966. Pope John Paul II named him Auxiliary Bishop of Quebec on Dec. 4, 1998. 

As a member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Gagnon served on several commissions. From 2005-2007, he represented the CCCB on the board of the Catholic Organization for Life and Family and served as its chairman from 2007-2009.