OTTAWA, 17 November 2025 – Today, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV appointed Father Susai Jesu, O.M.I., as Archbishop of Keewatin-Le Pas.

He replaces the Most Reverend Murray Chatlain, who served as Archbishop of Keewatin-Le Pas beginning in 2012. Archbishop Chatlain has served as Diocesan Administrator of Keewatin-Le Pas since being installed as Archbishop of Winnipeg on 4 April 2025.

Archbishop-elect Jesu was born in Pushpavanam,Tamil-Nadu, India, in 1971.

He attended seminary in India and was ordained to the priesthood on 27 June 2000 at the Church of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India by Most Rev. Lawrence Pius, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Madras Mylapore.

He received a Master’s degree in psychology while in India, and holds a Master’s Degree in Counselling and Spirituality from St. Paul University, Ottawa.

A member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, in 2007 Archbishop-elect Jesu was invited to Canada by the Oblate’s Lacombe Province, and he eventually became a Canadian citizen.

He served as pastor at St. Gertrude Parish in Pelican Narrows, Saskatchewan, and later at the Church of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows in Sandy Bay, Saskatchewan, both within the Archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas.

From July 2017 to July 2025, Archbishop-elect Jesu served as the pastor of the Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples in Edmonton, where he welcomed Pope Francis on the first day of his Apostolic Journey to Canada in 2022. Besides ministering to Indigenous and other Catholic communities, he attended to the pastoral needs of the Ge’ez Rite (Eritrean) community from 2014 to 2023.

He has also served the Edmonton Catholic Tamil community, which gathered to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his ordination on 7 August 2025.

In 2018, during a Mass for the First Peoples, Archbishop-elect Jesu was honoured with an Eagle Feather by the Indigenous Catholic community at a ceremony conducted by seven prominent elders because of his strong interest in the culture of the First Nations, his ability to speak the Cree language, and his efforts to involve Indigenous people in a revived Parish Pastoral Council.

On 9 May 2025 he was appointed as a Councillor of the Lacombe Province of the Oblates.

In July 2025, Archbishop-elect Jesu became the Pastor of Lac Ste-Anne Parish as well as parochial administrator of Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Enoch First Nation, the Catholic Community of Alexander, Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Alexis First Nation, and the Catholic Community of Paul First Nation.

Archbishop-elect Jesu served the Most Rev. Richard Smith, then Archbishop of Edmonton, as a pastoral advisor on Indigenous relations, healing, and reconciliation, as well as advising on the pastoral needs of at-risk and inner-city populations.

The Archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas began as the Keewatin Vicariate (established in 1910); the first Jesuit missionaries came between 1694 and 1697. The first mission was established at Ile-à-la-Crosse in 1860 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.  At the same time, the Grey Nuns of Montreal arrived and established institutions for education and healthcare.   The Vicariate became the Archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas in 1967.

The Archdiocese has a Catholic population of 52,000. It covers a land mass of 430,000 square kilometers across northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and a small corner of north-west Ontario. Métis, First Nations, including Cree, Oji-Cree, and Dene, as well as non-Natives, all contribute to the richness of the territory’s cultural diversity. The Archdiocese comprises 15 parishes with resident priests, 35 missions, and one institute of consecrated life.