Toronto's cardinal retires
Dec 16, 2006
Collins, 59, will be installed in January
(Toronto Star, Dec. 16, 2006) The Archdiocese of Toronto’s 1.6 million Catholics have a new spiritual leader following the appointment of Monsignor Thomas Collins as the new archbishop of Toronto.
Collins, 59, who was born in Guelph, and is currently the archbishop of Edmonton, replaces the retiring, and often controversial, Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic, who is 76.
Ambrozic tendered his resignation almost two years ago, as is standard practice when a bishop turns 75, but was asked by the Vatican to stay on until his replacement could be found.
Collins, who has been archbishop of Edmonton since 1999, since takes on the job at Canada’s largest and richest diocese in late January.
“I am deeply honoured by the confidence the Holy Father has placed in me, calling me to lead the Archdiocese of Toronto, one of the most diverse dioceses in the world,” Collins said in a prepared statement.
He will be officially installed as the new archbishop of Toronto sometime in January.
Collins did theological and other religious study in London and Rome, including at the prestigious Gregorian Pontifical University. He was ordained a priest in 1973 for the diocese of Hamilton, and went on to serve in various posts, including rector of St. Peter Seminary in London.
In 1997, he was consecrated a bishop, transferring to Edmonton in 1999.
Collins replaces Ambrozic, whose devout Catholic upbringing in his native Slovenia and experiences during the Second World War fashioned his views and guided his tenure as Toronto’s archbishop for the past 16 years.
Church observers say Ambrozic is a very serious, humble, and intelligent man who avoided the limelight, and led by quiet example.
“He was a very real person. He wasn’t about photo-ops,” said Neil MacCarthy director of public relations for the Archdiocese of Toronto. “For him if he was going down to a soup kitchen, he would just do it without the fanfare.”
In a profile upon his appointment, Leslie Scrivener, the Star’s former faith and ethics reporter painted a picture of a man known for his intellectual powers, his affinity for Toronto’s refugees and immigrants, his defence of church teaching.
And known for speaking his mind, sometimes to his peril.
His views on church doctrine and his priorities, while they may be unsettling to progressive Canadian Catholics, were in sync with those of the Vatican.
In his years as archbishop, some of his directives have been viewed as tough-minded: banning women from giving sermons during mass at the University of Toronto’s Newman Centre; saying that birth control and pre-marital sex should not be discussed in Catholic schools; urging Catholics in pastoral letters to lobby against government proposals that would extend spousal benefits to homosexual couples.
Then there is his nature. Friends describe him variously as affable, life of the party, a genial host, a considerate boss interested in the welfare of his employees.
Others say he is blunt, brusque and uncomfortable out of a traditional Catholic world. "There is a perception he is vindictive. He is not flexible, but he is not vindictive," a Catholic academic once said of him.
Retired teacher Joanna Manning, who has spent her life advocating for the ordination of female priests in the Catholic church, said she has no illusions that the archdiocese will operate differently under the new archbishop.
“I don’t think you are going to see any difference, because they are all cut from the same conservative cloth, and they are all micromanaged from Rome,” Manning told The Star.
When Ambrozic was involved in revamping the religious education curriculum for separate schools, "initially, he had a chilling effect," Ted Schmidt, an award-winning Catholic teacher, said in 1998 when Ambrozic was made a Cardinal.
"He was like a bludgeon, but he’s learned a bishop doesn’t need to be that. He’s become more sensitive and understanding."
Some view Ambrozic as ill at ease with women.
But Janet Somerville, a highly regarded Catholic intellectual, sees his relationships this way: "He does not have a good track record dialoguing with women who have feminist ideas, as opposed to women who deliver effective day-to-day leadership and handle huge loads. It’s the ideological versus the practical."
“He is a very humble man, who always brought out the best in others,” MacCarthy said. “He likes to read and study history and I’m sure he’ll look forward to taking a well deserved rest.”
“I thank God for the privilege to serve as Archbishop and offer gratitude to the clergy and laity who have supported me during my time in the Archdiocese of Toronto,” Ambrozic said in a release from the Archdiocese.
A board will be appointed to govern church affairs until Collin is officially installed in early 2007, the Archdiocese of Toronto said yesterday.
Covering much of Central Ontario, the Archdiocese of Toronto is the largest and wealthiest in the country, comprised of 223 parishes and 1.6 million Catholics who celebrate mass in 30 different languages.
Toronto's cardinal retires