Death of The Most Reverend J. Edward Troy, Bishop Emeritus of Saint John

Thursday, March 16, 2023

The Most Reverend J. Edward Troy, Bishop Emeritus of Saint John, died on Sunday, March 12, 2023, in his 93^rd year.

Bishop Troy was born on September 2, 1931 in Chatham, New Brunswick and grew up in Campbellton, NB. He studied St. Thomas University and then St. Francis Xavier University, where he graduated in 1951 with a B.A. (summa cum Laude). He then studied in Belgium at the University of Louvain, obtaining a Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1952 and a Licentiate of Philosophy in 1954.

In 1955, he entered Holy Heart Seminary in Halifax, where he studied Theology. He was ordained Priest in Campbellton in 1959 for the Diocese of Bathurst by Bishop Camille-André LeBlanc (1942-1993).

He served as a parish assistant following ordination, and was then loaned to the Diocese of Saint John, where he taught at St. Thomas University in Chatham from 1959 to 1963. During that time, he undertook doctoral studies in Philosophy at the University of Louvain, receiving a Ph.D. in 1962.

While teaching at St. Thomas, he served as a part-time Chaplain in the Royal Canadian Air Force. In 1963, he joined the chaplaincy service of the Canadian Armed Forces, were he remained for 21 years. In 1984, while serving as Director of Chaplaincy Administration at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa, he was appointed by Pope Saint John Paul II as Coadjutor Bishop of Saint John. He was ordained Bishop on 22 May 1984. He succeeded the Most Reverend Arthur Gilbert as Bishop of Saint John on 2 April 1986. Bishop Troy was the tenth Bishop of Saint John, Canada’s seventh-oldest diocese, founded in 1842.

Bishop Troy participated in the activities of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, serving as a member of the Episcopal Commission for Social Communications, as Co-Chairman of the Anglican / Roman Catholic Dialogue, as Episcopal Promoter for the Apostleship of the Sea, and as a member of the Episcopal Theological Commission as well as the then Episcopal Commission on Ecumenism. He also represented the CCCB on the Board of the Catholic Health Association of Canada.

Bishop Troy was Chancellor and Chairman of the Board of Governors of St. Thomas University, the Bishops’ Representative on the Board of Directors of the New Brunswick Catholic Health Association, and spokesman for the New Brunswick Bishops in dealing with the New Brunswick government in the matter of hospital legislation. He was State Chaplain for the Knights of Columbus.

On 24 September 1997, due to ill health, he resigned as Bishop of Saint John.

Bishop Troy’s remains will rest at the Cathedral Rectory, 91 Waterloo St., Saint John on Tuesday, 21 March from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. His remains will be translated to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception to rest beginning at 7:00 p.m. when Solemn Vespers will be prayed. The Funeral Mass will be celebrated by His Excellency the Most Reverend Christian Riesbeck, C.C., Bishop of Saint John, at the Cathedral on Wednesday, 22 March at 12:00 p.m. The interment will take place at a later date in St. Thomas Aquinas Cemetery, Campbellton, NB.