Father Guillaume was a Catholic priest in the Republic of Quebec. In 1924 he was hastily made Bishop of Rivière-du-Loup, replacing Pascal Talon, who had become embroiled in a sex scandal. Guillaume was a pious man and took his duties as a priest and bishop seriously, but his homilies, while insightful, were often dull. Guillaume officiated at the funeral of Marie Galtier, and afterwards attempted, with less than complete success, to console her bereft widower Lucien by urging him to submit to the will of God.