But there is no proof of the above assertion that the Jesuits approved of de Queylus; indeed, on the contrary, as soon as they learned of his nomination in the same month of January, they proposed the Abbé François de Laval de Montmorency, to the king, as their candidate for the projected see of New France. This opposition shelved the immediate question of the appointment of a bishop, which was delayed till the consecration of Laval on December 8, 1658.
Meanwhile M. Olier thought that there should be no delay in the Sulpicians taking up the pastoral work of Montreal. Accordingly we find M. de Queylus and his three companions at Nantes waiting to embark, when the sad news came that M. Olier had died at Paris on Easter Monday, April 2, 1657.
This was a great blow, since M. Olier was looked upon as the soul of the Montreal mission. The departure was postponed till the middle of May. In the meantime the missionaries had recourse to the Archbishop of Rouen with whom, by prescription, the jurisdiction of New France lay, seeing that it had not been revoked by the Holy See in 1643. From him they received by letters dated April 22, 1657, all the accustomed powers granted on such occasions to Canadian missionaries. But the Abbé de Queylus received, in addition a "proprio motu" from the archbishop, appointing him his "grand vicar for all New France." This was a false step on the part of the Archbishop of Rouen and M. de Queylus, for it put, even the superior of the Jesuit missionaries under the local superior of Montreal, a most unwise proceeding. Secondly, the archbishop forgot that already the Jesuit superior had been granted similar powers and he had not revoked them. He should certainly have foreseen inevitable friction. To Rouen is to be attributed the long drawn out battle now to commence between Quebec and Montreal.
On May 17, 1657, the four missionaries set sail with M. de Maisonneuve, M. and Mme. d'Ailleboust and other passengers.
On reaching the Isle of Orleans, two leagues from Quebec, Maisonneuve and the Montreal party disembarked, desirous to proceed immediately by another vessel to Montreal. But M. d'Ailleboust, arriving at Quebec on July 29th, announced the coming of the Sulpicians, so that kind-hearted Père de Quen, formerly in charge of Montreal and now superior of the Jesuit missions, immediately set forth for the Ile d'Orleans to call upon them. He congratulated Queylus on his letters of vicar general, and induced him to come to Quebec. It is strange that de Queylus, with the letters he bore, did not call directly upon the Jesuit superior whom he was to supplant. There is no doubt that the position of the Abbé Queylus was not understood by the Jesuits. Faillon, in his history of "La Colonie Française," says quite wrongly that there was an express clause, in the authorization of the new grand vicar, now disclosed to Father de Quen, especially mentioning the immediate cession of those powers already granted to the Jesuit superior of the missionaries. M. de Queylus, no doubt in good faith read this into his letters but he weakly explained that he would confine the exercise of his powers to Montreal. The letter of the archbishop certainly did not specifically revoke previous powers given to the Jesuits. Father de Quen as a canonist pointed out that it was more consistent that the Abbé de Queylus, in doubt as to the revocation of the Jesuits' powers, should follow out the full powers of universal jurisdiction claimed by him. On this the grand vicar, who did not need much pressure, made with the assent of Père de Quen an official visit of the parish church which was under the charge of Father Poncet, the first Jesuit missionary at Montreal in 1642. Father de Quen's action was weak, but wise, as he thought, at this time. M. de Queylus confirmed the friendly Father Poncet in the government of the parish of Quebec and handed to him the bull of indulgence of Pope Alexander VII on the occasion of his exaltation to the pontificate.