On Saturday, May 3, 2025, with joy and humility, I have said yes to the call to serve you as your Coadjutor bishop. It’s a wonderful honour. I am grateful and I thank you for trusting me and particularly for believing the Holy Spirit who has led you in making this decision.
I have been asked to express the vision and hopes I have as the future bishop of our diocese. It’s a tough task at a time when I’m still trying to come to my senses after experiencing the emotions that have overwhelmed me and all the delegates attending the Electoral Synod.
So, I will not share a plan to be carried out during my episcopacy, but, rather, my vision and hopes; for the strategic plan as I have expressed in written answers to the search committee’s questions, should be drawn up collectively, i.e. with everybody’s input. That’s a promise to you.
This vision and these hopes are a way for me to humbly embody the Bishop’s role. As officially taught and celebrated in the liturgy of bishop’s ordination, the role of a bishop is clear. He or she has to ‘‘guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the church; to celebrate and to provide for the administration of the sacraments of the New Covenant; ordain priests and deacons and to join in ordaining bishops; and to be in all things the faithful, pastor, and wholesome example for the entire flock of Christ…’’
All this combined with the challenges imposed by the changes taking place in our world makes the bishop’s role a heavy responsibility and leads me to make St Augustine’s words my own :
‘‘Where I’m terrified by what I am for you, I am given comfort by what I am with you. For you I am a bishop, with you, after all, I am a Christian. The first is the name of an office undertaken, the second a name of grace; that one means danger, this one salvation’’ (Sermon 340,1).
I can add on a hopeful note that what I am with you, – Christian and Disciple – gives sense to what I am for you –
Coadjutor Bishop Elect. I therefore promise to keep both aspects connected so that the Church’s mission may not be just mine, but ours.
Being co-responsible for the Church’s mission means being proud of our diversity and welcoming everyone without discrimination or prejudice. For that, my hope is that we continue using all our languages; particularly English and French but additionally singing sometimes in Haitian Creole and Spanish, Swahili and Lingala or in another language, and proclaiming the gospel from the Indigenous version of the Bible.
Co-responsibility in the Church’s mission requires us to care for one another. Each and every one of us should feel safe and protected not only by caring brothers and sisters, but also by more effective policies. The diocese is already working on a robust review of its safe church policies and practices and I am committed to seeing this through with you. (see page 3)
Taking care of each other in missionary co-responsibility should also extend to our financial management. We have a duty to help parishes meet their minimum operating requirements. This will be possible if we encourage them to make better use of the resources already available, and to capitalize on neglected potential, such as our spaces, which are often leased at lower rates.
We will do all this supported by God’s love, which is the engine of everything as stated in the diocesan profile under the title ‘Who we are’: ‘‘Our goal is to embody the love and compassion of God in all we do… we seek to be more than a gathering of individuals but a vibrant community that acts as “the hands and feet of Jesus.” Our mission is to be actively engaged in the world around us, responding to the needs of our neighbors and inviting people to experience the transformative power of Christ’s love…’’
Thank you all for being open to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us. We really felt His presence on Saturday, May 3rd. I ask for Him to continue guiding us as we have a mandate given to us by Our Lord to spread the good news of salvation and serve and grow the faith in the diocese of Montreal for the coming decade.
Don’t be afraid, for the God who has made everything beatiful in its time (Eccesiastes 3:11) will be with us and we will do it well together.
