Article

Remi J. De Roo

Remi J. De Roo, Roman Catholic bishop of Victoria, activist, writer (born on 24 February 1924 at Swan Lake, Manitoba; died 2 February 2022). Bishop De Roo has been president of the Bishops' Western Catholic Conference. He was also a founding member of the World Conference of Religions for Peace as well as the chairman of the Human Rights Commission of British Columbia.

Ordained Bishop of Victoria on 14 December 1962, he implemented the ecclesiology of Vatican II in his own diocese. Because of his outspoken attitude on such controversial issues as the Church and social action and liberation theology, together with his critique of the capitalist system, De Roo has received many labels, including radical and liberal. His influence has reached far beyond the diocese of Victoria. As representative of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, he championed the cause of Central and South American countries to develop their own form of democracy.