Regional Bishop’s Office - Northern Pastoral Region
Phone - 905-727-4448
northern.region@archtoronto.org 

Bishop John A. Boissonneau is Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto with responsibility for the Northern Region that includes 52 parishes in the York Region and Simcoe County.  Bishop Boissonneau was born in Toronto and ordained to the priesthood on December 14, 1974.  He served at the Chancery office and after graduate studies served from 1982 until 2001 in the education of priests at St. Augustine’s Seminary of Toronto.  In additional to his regional responsibilities, he is also Vicar for Christian Education and Archdiocesan Liaison with the Catholic Faculties of Theology.

Explanation of the Coat of Arms for Bishop John A. Boissonneau

ARMS

Per chevron Argent and Azure in chief two Baskets of three loaves Azure and in base a Basket of two fish Argent.

EXPLANATION

The blue chevron represents both Lake Ontario and the dome of St. Augustine’s Seminary where the bishop spent half his life as a student and a Faculty member. It also represents the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.

The three baskets, two filled with bread and one filled with fish, represent the abundance of God’s loving care in the person of Jesus as symbolized by the gospel miracle of feeding of the five thousand.

The baskets also allow for a play on words between the Old French word for a basket, “boisseau”, and the bishop’s family name.

MOTTO

Ut sit in Domino fiducia tua – So that your trust may be in the Lord – is from the Book of Proverbs 22:19 and expresses the central theme of the bishop’s previous ministry in priestly formation. His goals is to lead others in faith to trust the Lord with their lives, confident of the abundance of His loving care for them.