Death of His Eminence Gerald Emmett Cardinal Carter

Monday, April 07 2003

(CCCB – Ottawa) – His Eminence Gerald Emmett Cardinal Carter, Archbishop Emeritus of Toronto, died April 6, 2003, at the age of 91.

Visitation will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8, 2003, at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Toronto, with the funeral Mass to be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 10, 2003.

Cardinal Carter was born on March 1, 1912, in Montreal, Quebec, and ordained to the priesthood in 1937. In 1961 he was named Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of London. He became Bishop of London in 1964 and then installed as Archbishop of Toronto in 1978. He was created a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II on June 30, 1979.

An important figure in Montreal’s education system, founding St. Joseph’s Teachers College for English-speaking Catholics, Cardinal Carter was a member of the Montreal Catholic School Commission for 15 years, and active at McGill University’s Newman Club and the St. Thomas More Institute.

In Toronto, Cardinal Carter was responsible for expanding the Archdiocese’s pastoral programs, Catholic education and social services as well as implementing the reforms of Vatican II. He was involved with the opening of Covenant House for street youth and worked with the Province of Ontario to provide affordable housing to the elderly and disabled. He retired as Archbishop of Toronto in 1990.

Cardinal Carter served as President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), and was a member of a number of episcopal commissions including liturgy, and doctrine and faith. In addition to participating in the Second Vatican Council, he also was a member of the Vatican’s Consilium for the Implementation of the Constitution of the Sacred Liturgy, the Congregation for Divine Worship, the Permanent Council of the Synod of Bishops, the Secretariat for Non-Christians, the Secretariat for Christian Unity, and the Cardinals’ Commission on Financial Questions.