MEDIA ADVISORY

CARDINAL AMBROZIC CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF RELIGIOUS LIFE

TORONTO (7 June 2005) – A Solemn Pontifical Mass will be celebrated for His Eminence, Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic, in honour of the 50th Anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.  The Mass will be celebrated on June 8, 2005, 10:30 am, at St. Michael’s Cathedral .

St. Michael's Cathedral is located at Shuter and Bond Streets, in Toronto. Cardinal Ambrozic's Golden Jubilee will be attended by the Apostolic Nuncio to Canada, local bishops, priests of the Archdiocese and invited guests. Cardinal Ambrozic was born in Slovenia, January 27, 1930 and was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Toronto on June 4, 1955.  On May 27, 1976, Cardinal Ambrozci was ordained as an Auxiliary Bishop for Toronto and on May 22, 1986, became Coadjutor Archbishop of Toronto.  On January 18, 1998, he was named Cardinal by the late Pope John Paul II. A short biography of Cardinal Ambrozic is available upon request.

The Archdiocese of Toronto includes Metropolitan Toronto as well as the Regional Municipalities of York, Peel, a portion of Durham, as well as the County of Simcoe, a portion of the County of Dufferin and the Town of Orangeville. The Archdiocese is comprised of 1.5 million Catholics and 225 Parishes.  Mass is celebrated in 36 languages every Sunday.  The Archdiocese of Toronto is one of the most ethnically diverse dioceses in the world.