TORONTO (January 13, 2010) The Archdiocese of Toronto celebrates today the ordination of bishop-elect Vincent Nguyen as Canada’s first Roman Catholic bishop of Asian descent, and also the youngest bishop currently serving the Church in Canada. His Grace, Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, will preside at the ordination ceremony at St. Michael’s Cathedral at 3 p.m.
Nearly 1000 invited guests, including family, friends, parishioners, 30 bishops and more than 200 priests of the archdiocese will be on hand as Bishop-elect Nguyen, 43, is ordained as an auxiliary bishop of Toronto. Pope Benedict XVI announced his appointment on November 6, 2009. The sixth of nine children, Bishop-elect Nguyen was born in Saigon, Viet Nam and moved to Toronto in 1984. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Toronto in 1998. Since then, he has served in a number of Toronto parishes and achieved his licentiate in Canon Law from Rome (2008).
In his new role, Bishop Nguyen will serve the parishes of Scarborough and the Durham Region as well as maintaining his role as the chancellor of spiritual affairs and moderator of the curia in Toronto. Auxiliary bishops are assigned to assist archbishops in their pastoral work in large dioceses.
This ordination follows the ordination Tuesday in London, ON of Bishop William McGrattan, also as an auxiliary bishop of Toronto. Bishop McGrattan will serve the central region of the archdiocese, which includes the Toronto downtown core and surrounding neighbourhoods.
The ceremony will be webcast live at 3 p.m. on Salt+Light Television at www.saltandlighttv.org. Bishop McGrattan’s ordination will also be televised Saturday, January 9 at 8 p.m., followed by encore presentations Sunday at 12:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. Bishop Nguyen’s ordination will be televised the next day at 8:30 p.m. with encore presentations on Monday, January 18th at 1 a.m. and 7:30 a.m.
The Archdiocese of Toronto is Canada’s largest diocese, stretching from Toronto north to Georgian Bay and from Oshawa to Mississauga. It is home to 1.9 million Catholics, more than 800 diocesan and religious priests and 224 parishes, with mass celebrated in more than 30 different languages each week.
Media contact:
Bill Steinburg, Communications Manager, Archdiocese of Toronto
(416) 934-3400 x558 (416) 708-9655 (cell) bills@archtoronto.org www.archtoronto.org
NOTE: For photos and additional information related to the Episcopal ordination, visit a dedicated website at www.archtoronto.org/ordinations