Most Reverend Yvan Mathieu, S.M.
Most Reverend
Yvan Mathieu, S.M.,
Auxiliary Bishop of
Ottawa-Cornwall
The Most Reverend Yvan Mathieu was born in Québec City in 1961. After attending the Marist Fathers’ school (le Séminaire des Pères Maristes) in Sillery, Quebec, where he graduated in 1976, and the Petit Séminaire de Québec, where he did post-secondary studies, he entered the Society of Mary’s Novitiate (Marist Fathers) in Washington, D.C., in 1979. He made his first vows on July 31, 1980. From 1980 to 1984, he studied at Saint Paul University in Ottawa where he graduated with a Bachelor and a Master’s degree in Theology. In 1984 and 1985, Bishop Mathieu studied at Laval University and obtained a teaching degree as well as a teaching certificate. He was ordained to the priesthood on August 15, 1987.
In 1989, he studied in Rome, at the Pontifical Biblical Institute where he graduated with a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture (SSL) in 1993. After two years of ministry in Québec City, from 1993 to 1995, he returned to Saint Paul University and studied under the direction of Father Marcel Dumais, O.M.I. In 2000, he graduated with a Doctorate in Theology specializing in Biblical Studies (Ph.D., D.Th.). His dissertation “La figure de Pierre dans l’œuvre de Luc (Évangile et Actes des Apôtres) : Une étude synchronique”, (the figure of Peter in the writings of Luke (Gospel and Acts): a synchronic study), was published in the scholarly biblical collection Études bibliques (Gabalda editors) in 2004.
Bishop Mathieu taught at the Marist Fathers’ school (le Séminaire des Pères Maristes) in Sillery from 1984 to 1989. Since 2000, he is a professor of Old Testament and Biblical Languages in the Faculty of Theology at Saint Paul University. From July 2014 until December 2018, he served as Dean of the Faculty of Theology. Bishop Mathieu also serves in parishes on weekends, preaches retreats, gives conferences and collaborates with three homiletical reviews: Prions en Église, Vie liturgique and Feuillet biblique. He had been Provincial Superior of the Canadian Marist Priests since January 2019 when he was named Bishop by His Holiness.
On March 17, 2022, Pope Francis appointed Fr. Yvan Mathieu, S.M., Auxiliary Bishop of Ottawa-Cornwall. He was ordained on June 13, 2022, at Notre Dame Cathedral in Ottawa, Ontario.
Symbolism of the Heraldic Emblems
Arms: The two scrolls represent the Old and New Testaments, and allude to Bishop Mathieu’s work as a biblical scholar. The colour blue, often associated with the Virgin Mary, refers to his membership in the congregation of the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers). For Bishop Mathieu, gold evokes divinity. The star is a symbol of the Virgin Mary, the Nativity and the Epiphany. Numbering three, the stars allude to the Holy Trinity.
Motto: This Latin phrase, meaning “Do not be afraid,” evokes two important passages in the New Testament: when Joseph is urged to accept Mary into his home, and when Jesus calls Simon, the future Peter, to join his ministry.
