Paul-Émile Léger CC GOQ PSS (April 26, 1904 – November 13, 1991) was a Canadian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.

Later that year he left Montreal for Fukuoka, Japan, to set up a grand séminaire for educating indigenous clergy.

[citation needed] In 1940 Léger became the vicar general of the Diocese of Valleyfield, and the parish priest at St. Cecilia Cathedral.

[1][2] He was affectionately received by Pope Pius XII due to the aid Gold Cross, a Quebec charity Léger founded, was providing to Rome after the war.

[1] Léger was appointed archbishop of Montreal on March 25, 1950 by Pope Pius XII,[1][3] and was raised to the rank of Monsignor on September 29, 1942.

In this capacity he would perform the duties of the papal legate in Lourdes, France (1954), at St Joseph's Oratory in Montreal (1955), and in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré (1958).

His work on the Central Preparatory Commission led to close affiliations with other cardinals leading edge of modernization in the Church.

In August 1962, Léger, disappointed in the preparatory schemata of the first conciliar period, petitioned John XXIII along with six of the leading European cardinals.

Despite his prominence and popularity at the Council, his rigid stances created rivalries, including with some that supported secularization, liberalization and modernization of the Church.

[1] Léger with the Quebec bishops and Archbishop Roy delicately negotiated with the government, resulting in major institutional revamping in education, health, and social services.

[1] On November 9, 1967, Léger announced his resignation as archbishop of Montreal with the intent to devote himself to working among the African lepers.

[1] Léger left Montreal on December 11, 1967, making some short stops, visiting leprosaria supported by Fame Pereo, before settling in the archdiocese of Yaoundé, Cameroon.

[1] In July 1984 Léger was admitted to Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice and spent his last two years confined to a wheelchair before dying at age 87 on November 13, 1991.

[8] He believed that the council fathers needed to issue a stronger declaration against antisemitism as a "necessary act of a renewed Church".