 OTTAWA - Msgr. Michael Mulhall, the new bishop of Pembroke, Ont., has a philosophical turn of mind.
The priest, who has been serving as vicar general of the Peterborough, Ont., diocese since 2004, is grateful for the grounding in philosophy he gained prior to his theological studies in Rome.
“The essential questions of the human mind and human heart are formed in philosophical ideas but find their answer in Christ, who is the truth,” Mulhall told CCN July 3.
Pope Benedict XVI announced Mulhall’s appointment to the neighbouring diocese on June 30. Pembroke contains 58 parishes and missions in an area straddling the Ottawa River in both Ontario and Quebec. About 68,000 Catholics are served by 63 priests, 161 religious sisters and brothers, six permanent deacons and nine lay pastoral workers.
Mulhall grew up in Peterborough, a city about an hour’s drive east of Toronto. He earned a philosophy degree at Trent University there before going to Rome to study theology at the Angelicum and Augustinianum universities.
The training in philosophy helped him understand the history of human thought and realize fundamental human questions that are relevant today have been shared by previous generations. These questions — “From where have we come? Where are we going? And for what reason are we here?” — have a universal significance for every age, he said.
“These philosophical questions are about truth and become a vehicle for human hearts in their search for Christ,” he said. “Philosophy gives us an important foundation for the way we think and interact with people.”
Mulhall’s experience in theological studies, mostly in Rome, he described as “wonderful.” He has been heavily influenced by the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom.
Born in 1962 and ordained to the priesthood in 1989, Mulhall always knew he wanted to be a priest. The second youngest in a family of five children, he credits the influence of his priest uncle, Fr. John Hickey, his “very devout” Catholic family and the St. Peter-in-Chains Cathedral parish’s many good pastors, whom he said provided an excellent example of priestly life.
After further studies in Rome following ordination, he served at a parish in Huntsville, Ont., then returned to Rome to serve at the Congregation for Oriental Churches for eight years. He returned to Canada in 2002 and worked in pastoral ministry in Huntsville and Hastings, Ont., before becoming vicar general of the Peterborough diocese.
“The diocese of Peterborough is well justified in being proud of Msgr. Mulhall,” wrote Bishop Nicola De Angelis, bishop of Peterborough, in a news release. “He is a living demonstration of tireless and humble labour in the Lord’s vineyard.”
At age 45, he will be among the youngest of the Canadian bishops, though he is not sure whether to describe himself as a Baby Boomer or a Generation X-er.
“Generations seem to be changing so quickly,” he said. “It’s difficult to see the lines of where some begin or some end.”
Mulhall said he knows little about the Pembroke diocese, located about an hour-and-a-half drive north from Ottawa, though he may have visited the area when he was a child. The diocese has been vacant since mid-April when Archbishop Richard Smith left to take up his appointment as archbishop of the Edmonton archdiocese.
“It’s a humbling experience to have received these responsibilities from the Holy Father and all the blessings and prayers of so many priests and the faithful that I’ve known,” he said.
He expects to visit the diocese soon and, in the meantime, brush up on his French, as some parishes are French-speaking. His consecration and installation will take place some time in the fall, though a date has not been set yet.
“I’m looking forward to it very much as an invitation from Christ to enter into more deeply the mystery of how the church is present in the lives of so many of its faithful.”
Recommend this article... |
