Louis Edward Gelineau

Louis Edward Gélineau (May 3, 1928 – November 7, 2024) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as bishop of the Diocese of Providence from 1972 to 1997.

Gélineau then entered St. Paul's University in Ottawa, Ontario, obtaining a Licentiate of Sacred Theology and a Bachelor of Philosophy degree.

Returning to Vermont, he was named assistant chancellor of the diocese and secretary and master of ceremonies to Bishop Robert Joyce.

He also served as director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith and assistant chaplain at De Goesbriand Memorial Hospital in Vermont.

[4] In 1988, Gélineau declared that removing a feeding tube from 48-year-old Marcia Gray, a comatose Rhode Island woman, "does not contradict Catholic moral theology," but emphasized that he "in no way supports or condones the practice of euthanasia.

In 1985, Gélineau registered opposition to a 1985 ordinance for the City of Providence to protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in employment, housing, credit and access to public accommodations.

[11] On February 28, 2020, Gélineau and the diocese were sued by Robert Houllahan, who alleged sexual abuse by Reverend Normand Demers.

Houllahan claimed that Demers was also preying on other boys in Haitian orphanages and rectories in Rhode Island while the diocese was protecting him.

The Providence Journal article mentioned a 1980 lawsuit against Gelineau from parents of a boy in Burrillville, Rhode Island, who claimed Silva assaulted him.