Bishop Lawrence Sabatini of Kamloops Retires

Thursday, September 02 1999

(CCCB — Ottawa) — His Holiness Pope John Paul II today accepted the resignation of Bishop Lawrence Sabatini, CS, after 16 years of episcopal service in the Diocese of Kamloops.

Bishop Sabatini was appointed an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Vancouver in 1978, and then named to the Diocese of Kamloops on October 1, 1982.

Born on May 15, 1930, in Chicago, Ill., he was ordained to the priesthood on March 19, 1957, for the Missionaries of St. Charles (Scalabrinis). Prior to his episcopal ordination, he was professor of moral theology and canon law at St. Charles Seminary in Staten Island, NY; and then, later, pastor of St. Stephen’s Parish in North Vancouver, BC, where he also served as Vicar for Religious, vicar-officialis of the Regional Tribunal and chairman of the Archdiocesan Senate of Priests.

At the CCCB, he served on the Episcopal Commissions for Canon Law as well as for Migration and Tourism. He has also served as a consultant on the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.

The Diocese of Kamloops has a Catholic population of 47,010 in 79 parishes and missions, served by 33 priests, one permanent deacon, four religious brothers and 18 sisters. The diocese will be under the direction of a diocesan administrator until a new bishop is named.