Joseph La Rocque
Joseph La Rocque, also spelled Larocque, was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest, professor, and bishop.
Life
Born in Chambly, Lower Canada, Joseph La Rocque received a classical education at the Collège de Saint-Hyacinthe. He was ordained a priest on 15 March 1835 by Bishop Jean-Jacques Lartigue. He taught calligraphy, stenography, and drawing as well as literature at Saint-Hyacinthe; and became director in 1840. When the college became a seminary in 1842, La Rocque was named Superior.In 1849, La Rocque became canon at Saint-Jacques Cathedral (Montreal), and in 1849 editor of the diocese's Mélanges religieux, until September 1851 when François-Magloire Derome took over. Canon La Rocque became spiritual director of the nuns of Notre-Dame de Charité du Bon-Pasteur and the Sisters of Charity of Providence.
In 1852, La Rocque accompanied Coadjutor Bishop Jean-Charles Prince to Rome as his secretary. When Prince was named Bishop of the Diocese of Saint-Hyacinthe, La Rocque was appointed Titular Bishop of Cydonia and Prince's successor as Coadjutor Bishop of Montreal. In 1860, he was transferred to succeed Prince as Bishop of Saint-Hyacinthe. He later took on the administration of the diocese of Saint-Hyacinthe from Nov. 1856 to July 1857 during Bishop Prince's illness.
During his tenure as bishop, La Rocque helped Catherine Aurelia Caouette found the congregation of the Sisters Adorers of [the Precious Blood|Sœurs Adoratrices du Précieux-Sang], and wrote the community's constitution.
In poor health for many years, La Rocque resigned in 1866. As titular Bishop of Germanicopolis and vicar-general, he remained in his diocese, at the monastery of the Sisters of the Precious Blood, until his death on 18 November, 1887, at the age of seventy-nine. He was buried in the sisters' cemetery.
He was succeeded by his cousin, Charles La Rocque.