New Bishop for Diocese of Saint John, New Brunswick
Monday, May 07 2007
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI today named Bishop Robert Harris as Bishop of Saint John, New Brunswick. Since his episcopal ordination in December 2002, he has served as Auxiliary Bishop of Sault Ste-Marie, Ontario.
He succeeds Bishop Martin Currie who has been the Apostolic Administrator of the diocese since the retirement of Most Reverend Faber MacDonald last September.
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI today named Bishop Robert Harris as Bishop of Saint John, New Brunswick. Since his episcopal ordination in December 2002, he has served as Auxiliary Bishop of Sault Ste-Marie, Ontario. He succeeds Bishop Martin Currie who has been the Apostolic Administrator of the diocese since the retirement of Most Reverend Faber MacDonald last September.
Bishop Harris was born in Montreal on 26 September 1944, ordained to the priesthood in 1969, and to the episcopate in 2002. He holds a licentiate in theology from the Grand Séminaire de Montréal and a licentiate in canon law from the Gregorian University in Rome. Before being named to the Diocese of Sault Ste-Marie, he had been pastor for a number of English-speaking parishes in the Archdiocese of Montreal as well as its Vice Chancellor, vocations director for the English-speaking Catholic community, general coordinator of English-language pastoral services and episcopal vicar for English-speaking Catholics. As a member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), the new Bishop of Saint John is currently the Chairman of the Episcopal Commission for Canon Law / Inter-Rite, and formerly was a member of the English Sector Commission for Social Communications.
The Diocese of Saint John has 65 diocesan priests, three priests who are members of religious communities, two permanent deacons, 121 religious Brothers and Sisters and 20 lay pastoral assistants, serving a population of over 115,000 Catholics in 91 parishes and missions.