(CCCB) His Holiness Pope Francis today accepted the resignation of the Most Reverend Gilles Lussier as Bishop of Joliette, and named as his successor the Most Reverend Raymond Poisson.

At the time of his appointment, the Bishop-elect was Auxiliary Bishop of Saint-Jérôme. Bishop Lussier has been responsible for the Diocese of Joliette for the past 24 years. He had offered his resignation to the Holy Father when reaching the age of 75, as required by the Code of Canon Law.

Bishop Raymond Poisson was born on April 30, 1958, in Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Rouville, Quebec. After completing his secondary studies at the Séminaire Très-Sainte-Trinité of Saint-Bruno, he pursued his collegial studies in administration at College André-Grasset and obtained a Bachelor's degree in theology and then a Master's degree from the University of Montreal. He holds a doctorate in fundamental theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, specializing in ecclesiology. He was ordained to the priesthood on December 9, 1983, for the Diocese of Saint-Jean-Longueuil by its then Bishop, the Most Reverend Bernard Hubert. As a priest, he worked at the diocesan level as private secretary to Bishop Hubert and member of the Council of Priests, as well as with the Office for Priests and the Vocations Office. Before his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Saint-Jérôme on May 1, 2012, he was also a member of a committee of the Assembly of Québec Catholic Bishops which studies how to preserve Quebec's heritage of religious art and architecture. Before being ordained Bishop on June 15, 2012, he served as well as a chaplain of the Canadian Association of the Order of Malta. .

As a member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), Bishop Poisson currently serves on its Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace.

Bishop Lussier was born on June 5, 1940, in Montreal. He was ordained a priest in 1964. On February 28, 1989, he was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Saint-Jérôme and later appointed Bishop of Joliette on September 8, 1991. As a member of the CCCB, Bishop Lussier has served on the former Commission for Theology as well as on the former Episcopal Commission for Christian Education of the French Sector, the French Sector Commission for Liturgy and the Sector's Comité de diffusion des célébrations liturgiques. He has also been the Bishop ponens with the Canadian French Sector of the Pontifical Mission Societies and was the CCCB delegate for the Second Missionary Congress of America (CAM II), from 2000 to 2003. Since 2011, Bishop Lussier has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Assembly of Québec Catholic Bishops.

According to the CCCB 2015 Directory, the Diocese of Joliette has 24 parishes and missions, with a Catholic population of 206,981 served by 55 diocesan priests, 46 priests who are members of religious communities, seven permanent deacons, 176 religious Sisters and Brothers and 30 lay pastoral assistants.