Archbishop Emeritus Terrence Prendergast, S.J.

A native of Montreal, Archbishop Terrence Prendergast entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1961 and was ordained a priest in 1972. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fordham University, Master of Divinity and Doctor of Theology degrees from Toronto School of Theology and a Licentiate in Theology from Regis College.

Archbishop Prendergast taught in Halifax at Atlantic School of Theology from 1975-1981, then was Rector of Toronto's Regis College from 1981-87 and Dean of Theology from 1991-1994. In 1988-89, he lectured as Daniel Hannin Professor at Campion College, University of Regina. From 1992-1994, he served as Executive Secretary of the Vatican's Apostolic Visitation of Canadian seminaries (English sector). When nominated bishop in 1995, he was Catholic Biblical Association of America Visiting Professor at the École biblique et archéologique française de Jerusalem. Named Titular Bishop of Slebte and Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto on February 22, 1995, Archbishop Prendergast received episcopal ordination in St. Michael's Cathedral, Toronto, on April 25, 1995.

Appointed eleventh Archbishop of Halifax on June 30th, 1998, he was installed in St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica on September 14th that year. In January 2002, he became Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Yarmouth.  He is the Canadian member of Vox Clara, an advisory commission to the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments on the English translation of Sacramental texts. In the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, he has served on its Permanent Council, been a member of the Commission for Relations with Associations of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Laity, co-chair of the national Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue, a director of the Catholic Office for Life and the Family, and has now fulfilled three terms on the Doctrinal Commission. He now serves on the Social Communications Committee.

Archbishop Prendergast was named tenth Bishop and ninth Archbishop of Ottawa by Pope Benedict XVI on May 14, 2007. He was installed on June 26, 2007.

He was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall on January 14, 2016, and named the ninth bishop of Alexandria-Cornwall on April 27, 2018.

On May 6, 2020, Archbishop Prendergast was named the first archbishop of the newly created Archdiocese of Ottawa-Cornwall.

On November 30, 2020 he was named Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Hearst-Moosonee.

He will step down as Archbishop of Ottawa-Cornwall on December 3, 2020.

Heraldry speaks of two sides of a shield - dexter and sinister - which are right and left sides; these are reversed when viewed. The sinister, left side of the shield (right to the viewer), makes reference to the Archbishop's family and religious community:  "Azure a Sun in its splendour Or charged with a monogram of the Holy Name Sable" (a golden sun inscribed with the first three Greek letters of the name of Jesus in black, all on a blue background). These, along with the motto, represent the bishop’s ties to the Society of Jesus or Jesuit Order.  "Between a Shamrock slipped and a Rose in chief and a Fleur-de-lis in base all Argent" (on the upper level are a shamrock with stem attached and a rose, while on the lower level there is a lily - all these in silver).  The shamrock and the rose represent the Archbishop's forebears in Ireland and England, and the fleur-de-lis his upbringing in Montreal, Quebec.  The fleur-de-lis and the colour blue also represent the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Society of Jesus.

The right side of the shield (left to the viewer) blends the double-barred cross from the coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Halifax, chosen by Archbishop Prendergast during his episcopate there (the flowering cross, like the blazing sun represents the power of Christ's resurrection to transform human experiences into a share in Jesus glorification), with a new element the wavy blue Y-shape representing the three great rivers of the National Capital Region: the Ottawa, the Rideau and the Gatineau. The presence of the Cross above nature suggests the healing of Christ that touches not only people's lives but all of creation too.

The motto, "In nomine Jesu" ("at the name of Jesus") is taken from St. Paul's hymn to the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ in the Epistle to the Philippians (2:10).  Besides expressing the desire that his ministry be in the name and manner of Jesus, it expresses its goal as the praise and glory of God, echoing the Jesuit motto Ad majorem Dei gloriam ("to the greater glory of God").

The achievement is completed by a reference to the pallium, a liturgical vestment (represented by the three black crosses on wool) conferred on metropolitan archbishops, by the Pope, who shares his universal jurisdiction with the Archbishop in the Ottawa ecclesiastical province, which includes the dioceses of Hearst, Pembroke and Timmins. The broad rimmed galero hat and the double-barred cross are also emblems of a metropolitan archbishop.