Episcopal Resignation for the Diocese of Charlottetown

Thursday, March 04 2021

Today, His Holiness Pope Francis accepted the resignation of the Most Reverend Richard Grecco, after 12 years as the Bishop of the Diocese of Charlottetown. Bishop Grecco submitted his resignation upon reaching the age limit of 75, as stipulated by Canon 401 of the Code of Canon Law.

Bishop Grecco was born on 4 March 1946, in St. Catharines, Ontario. He earned a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Ottawa (1968) and went on to study at Saint Paul University, also in Ottawa, earning a Bachelor of Theology (1971). He furthered his studies at the Gregorian University in Rome from which he was awarded a Licentiate in Theology (1972) and obtained a Doctor of Theology from the University of St. Michael’s College and the Toronto School of Theology (1982). He was ordained to the priesthood on 2 September 1973 for the Diocese of St. Catharines, where he served as an associate pastor and pastor during three periods (1973 to 1977; 1989 to 1992; and 1994 to 1998), and as Vicar General from 1995 to 1998. His ministry likewise included service in the area of formation and training. He was the Spiritual Director (1977-1981) and later Lecturer in Theology (1981-1988) at St. Augustine Seminary in Scarborough, Ontario, while concurrently serving as the Director of Religious Education for the Diocese of St. Catharines (1981-1989), as well as Lecturer in Christian Ethics at the University of St. Michael’s College in Toronto, Ontario (1988-1992). From 1992 to 1994, he served as Associate Professor of Moral Theology at St. Joseph’s College at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

On 5 December 1997, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of London, Ontario, and was ordained to the episcopate on 2 February 1998 at St. Catharines. On 27 April 2002, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Toronto, where he served until his appointment as Bishop of the Diocese of Charlottetown on 11 July 2009. He was installed as the Bishop of Charlottetown on 21 September 2009, where he served until his resignation.

As a member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), Bishop Grecco served as a member of the then National Advisory Committee on Adult Education (1984-1987), the then English Sector Commission for Christian Education (1999-2001) of which he later became Chair (2001-2005), the then English Sector Commission for Evangelization of Peoples (2005-2007), the Commission for Doctrine (2014-2017) of which he later became Chair (2017-2020), and the Orthodox-Catholic Bishops’ Dialogue (2009-2021). He was also a CCCB representative with the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace-Caritas Canada (CCODP) from 2007 to 2011 and a member of the Standing Committee for Development and Peace from 2011 to 2014. As Bishop ponens, he accompanied the Pontifical Mission Societies (2005-2009) and the Charismatic Renewal Services of Canada (2008-2016), and was also a CCCB delegate to the Canadian Council of Churches (2016-2017). Bishop Grecco also served as the Moderator for the Canadian Appeal Tribunal from 2011 to 2017.

The Diocese of Charlottetown has 51 parishes and missions, with a Catholic population of 66,966 served by 41 diocesan priests, together with one priest and 73 Sisters who are members of institutes of consecrated life, as well as 30 lay pastoral agents.