From The Bishop

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross I am most grateful to Almighty God and extremely honoured and humbled that our Holy Father has chosen me to be Bishop of St. Catharines Diocese. Throughout my life God has always been so good to me and today's announcement is another example of this fact. How fortunate I am to be chosen to be bishop of such a wonderful diocese. I have had the good fortune of serving in the Diocese of Hamilton for the past 26 years. Twenty-one years as a priest and five years as Auxiliary Bishop. During that time Bishop Anthony Tonnos, a native son of St. Catharines diocese, has been the Bishop and a great mentor to me. He often spoke of his home diocese with great pride and affection and because of this I feel I already know just how good St. Catharines diocese is, especially its clergy and laity. Today the Church celebrates the feast in honour of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The cross is the greatest symbol of hope. In the gospel of today's Mass, taken from the gospel of St. John, we read “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” This scripture passage tells us that our hope is found in God's unconditional love which is expressed most perfectly in his Son's gift of self on the cross. As your new shepherd I must proclaim that hope which is rooted in God's great love for us. Together we share a joyful task as we embrace the cross and proclaim the Good News which brings salvation to the world. I look forward to serving with you and deepening my knowledge and love of this diocese and its people. It is my sincere wish and prayer that I will be with you for many years and that together we will grow in holiness, faith and love for our Lord Jesus Christ and his Church. May St. Catherine of Alexandria, patroness of this great Diocese, pray for us all.