We Welcome the New Archbishop of Toronto

Saturday, March 25, 2023 marked a new chapter for the Catholic Church in Toronto as His Grace The Most Reverend Francis Leo was installed as Archbishop of Toronto.

We give thanks to God and pray for our new shepherd!

Prior to being named Archbishop of Toronto in February of this year, Archbishop Leo served as Auxiliary Bishop of Montreal. A respected academic who speaks English, French, Italian, and Spanish, Archbishop Leo has taught philosophy and theology and served as a Judge for the Canadian Appeal Tribunal. He is President and founding member of the Canadian Mariological Society. He is a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem as well as a member of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Dominic (Third Order Dominican).

Toronto Archbishop Francis Leo, an accomplished academic who has served in a variety of roles within the Roman Catholic Church in Canada, the United States and Australia, has been named Chancellor of St. Augustine’s Seminary of Toronto.

We are delighted to welcome Archbishop Leo as our new Chancellor and we look forward to his presence in our community. We also extend our gratitude to Cardinal Thomas Collins for his many years of service in the role.

To read the text of Archbishop Leo's Homily, click here.

”As we make this journey together, be assured of my prayers and closeness. As we proclaim together the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and are active in our pastoral care as well as our creative outreach, the Lord will continue to be our strength, and we will know holiness of life and greatness of soul. It is a holiness that can only come from reclining – like his beloved disciple – upon Christ’s Eucharistic and Sacred Heart. Eucharistic adoration will allow Christ to gradually transform our hearts so that they may be ready to receive the wisdom and strength so as to spend our lives in service to God through service to others. It is the way of Christ.

Brothers and Sisters, let us be one in beseeching the maternal intercession of Mary, Our Blessed Mother. May her example of charity, openness, trust and faithfulness be our strength, our light, and our guide. And invoking the intercession the powerful patron saint of our Archdiocese, St. Michael the Archangel, may we be united in faith and in ministry, truly strive to become one heart and one soul, and resisting all divisions, celebrate the Eucharistic sacrifice together as a community of believers as a family. In doing so, always and everywhere, echoing Mary’s fiat with her steadfast fidelity and humility, we call down upon us the powerful and abundant blessings of Almighty God.”