VATICAN CITY - Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet was third on every ballot during the five rounds of voting that ended with then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio becoming Pope Francis, according to a new book.

OTTAWA – It was the gift to beat all gifts.

CORNWALL, Ont. – Cardinal Marc Ouellet has denounced the “alarmist” and “unfaithful” interpretations of the Pope Francis’ document Amoris Laetitia.

BALTIMORE – Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Bishops, told the U.S. bishops that their ministry is to be "witnesses to the Risen One."

TORONTO – Cardinal Marc Ouellet, once strongly identified with conservative resistance to any change to the ban on communion for divorced and remarried Catholics, has given a ringing endorsement to Amoris Laetitia, the controversial exhortation by Pope Francis that sums up two synods on the family.

A German Catholic leader’s defense of religious freedom has triggered a backlash following anti-Muslim statements by far-right politicians in the country.

VATICAN CITY - Although the number is not high, it is no longer "exceptional" to have priests turn down an appointment as bishop, said Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

In a just-released book Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet has poured cold water on arguments that the Church should allow communion for divorced and remarried Catholics.

OTTAWA - Bishops who attend Synods should spend more time in group discussions and less time listening to each other’s speeches, Gatineau Archbishop Paul-André Durocher proposed to Pope Francis.

Associate Editor Michael Swan is in Rome to report on the conclave. Selecting a pope is a world event, but that doesn’t mean it lacks a Canadian perspective. Here Swan looks at Canada and the conclave.

VATICAN CITY - Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet said the conclave "opens up a new future" for the church and is a responsibility the cardinals see as "their main task."

Cardinal Ouellet high on many lists to succeed Benedict XVI

How do you reform an episcopate and provide new leadership for the Church in a particular nation? Canada is now the model for the Church universal on how it can be done.

The dramatic appointment of Christian Lépine as the new archbishop of Montreal, only six months after he was ordained an auxiliary bishop of the same diocese, has drawn attention to Canada as the exemplar of how an episcopate can be reconfigured for the challenges of the new evangelization.

Just 18 months ago, in the fall of 2010, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, former archbishop of Quebec City, arrived in Rome as the new prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. The prefect is the most senior advisor to the Holy Father on the appointment of bishops. High on the new prefect’s agenda was the renewal of the bishops of Quebec, with a number of retirements pending.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI named 24 new cardinals on Wednesday but there were no Canadians on his list that included 10 Italians and two Americans.

It was widely anticipated that the Pope would name a Canadian to the body whose primary responsibility is selecting the pontiff.

Currently, Montreal archbishop Jean-Claude Turcotte is the only cardinal residing in Canada. In August, Cardinal Marc Ouellet took an important position in the Vatican. In January, former Toronto archbishop Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic of Toronto turned 80 and became ineligible to vote in papal conclaves.

SAINTE-ANNE-DE-BEAUPRE, QUE. - Cardinal Marc Ouellet affirmed his unqualified commitment to the Gospel as he bid his farewell to the Quebec archdiocese Aug. 15 before heading off to assume a new role at the Vatican.

At his last public celebration of the Eucharist before departing to Rome, the new Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops acknowledged some people may have been hurt by some of his words in public debate or some of his pastoral decisions.

In recent months, Ouellet has faced a wave of negative attacks in the news media for his forthright stance in defense of human life from conception, even in cases of rape.