Despite its grand Catholic church at the top of the hill, Guelph, Ont., is a modest place and home to modest people.
A little bit of Guelph’s heroic modesty lurks in the tabernacle of Our Lady Immaculate Church up on the hill. Somehow in the 1970s the tabernacle door was damaged such that it no longer locked. It was replaced by a more modern tabernacle that some in the parish thought conflicted with their church’s neogothic architecture.
“It was an ugly, monstrous looking thing,” declares John Valeriote, lawyer, amateur historian and stalwart of Guelph’s Catholic community.
Honour recognizes gifts of Toronto Catholics [Cardinal-designate Collins Q&A]
By Catholic Register StaffCardinal-designate Thomas Collins will be elevated to the College of Cardinals by the Pope at a Vatican ceremony on Feb. 18. Amid a busy schedule as he prepares for that important event, he took time to speak directly to the readers of The Catholic Register by answering a set of prepared questions.
What has your life been like since the announcement on Jan. 6 in terms of public reaction and demands on your time?
In many ways, my daily life hasn’t changed since the Holy Father announced my appointment to the College of Cardinals. My schedule remains as busy as ever, serving the people of the archdiocese of Toronto. Of course, there has been some time involved in preparing for the consistory on Feb. 18, but nothing too onerous.
Timeline - The path taken on the road to the College of Cardinals
By Catholic Register StaffThomas Christopher Collins
o Born in Guelph, Ont., Jan. 16, 1947
o Obtained a Bachelor of Arts (English) from St. Jerome’s College in Waterloo, Ont., 1969
o Ordained to the diaconate, May 14, 1972
Thomas Collins - A scholar priest
By Catholic Register StaffThomas Collins began his education in St. Stanislaw’s School in the shadow of Our Lady Immaculate Church in Guelph. High school was just across the way at Bishop Macdonell High School. At every stage, it has been a thoroughly Catholic education.
Collins busy beyond duties as archbishop of Toronto
By Catholic Register Staffo Member of Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Permanent Council
o Chancellor, University of St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto
o Chancellor, Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, Toronto
The great crash in Guelph, circa 1957
By Catholic Register StaffThere’s a story that circulates around Guelph, Ont., about how Cardinal-elect Thomas Collins barely escaped Our Lady Immaculate Church with his life.
In one version, a 10-year-old Collins was almost killed when a statue of Our Lady came loose from the roof of the church and crashed at his feet. This somehow drove him into the priesthood.
The story is utter nonsense. We got the true story from the man himself.
London colleagues remember a man of great intellect
By Herman Goodden, Catholic Register SpecialLONDON, ONT. - St. Peter’s Seminary in London has been a focal point for much of the life of Cardinal-designate Thomas Collins. He studied there before becoming a priest in 1973 and over the ensuing 24 years was drawn back to St. Peter’s in the roles of lecturer, Dean of Theology and, finally, rector until he was named bishop of St. Paul, Alta., in 1997.
Fr. Michael Prieur, now a professor of Moral and Sacramental Theology, taught Collins in the early 1970s and worked with him for 19 years at the seminary. Fr. Murray Watson, the current vice-rector and assistant professor of Sacred Scripture and Ecumenism at the seminary, was taught by Collins in the 1990s. The Catholic Register sat down with these two priests and teachers for their perspectives on the London years of the man destined to become Canada’s 16th cardinal.
Vestments and symbols of the Office of the Cardinal
By Catholic Register StaffWhen Archbishop Thomas Collins becomes Thomas Cardinal Collins the principal colour of his vestments will become scarlet to symbolize the blood that a cardinal is willing to shed for his faith.
Scarlet was installed as the colour for cardinals by Pope Gregory X at the Second Council of Lyon in 1274.
A Coat of Arms fit for a cardinal
By Catholic Register StaffWith his elevation to the College of Cardinals, Archbishop Thomas Collins has updated his bishop’s coat of arms. The biggest change is an emphasis on the colour red of a cardinal. Here is an explanation of the new emblem.
The motto “Deum Adora” (Worship God) is taken from Revelation 22:9.
Collins follows MacGuigan through western diocese to Toronto, College of Cardinals
By Glen Argan, Canadian Catholic NewsEDMONTON - On Feb. 18, Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins will become the first former archbishop of Edmonton to be installed as a cardinal. Collins is no longer “our man,” nor is he the “man” of the St. Paul diocese where his episcopal career began. Nevertheless, we feel some stake in the man and are glad to experience a little of the reflected glory of his appointment.
A little known fact, however, is that Collins will not be the first priest from this archdiocese to wear the red hat. That honour belongs to Cardinal James Charles MacGuigan, archbishop of Toronto from 1934 to 1971, who in 1946 became the first-ever English-speaking Canadian cardinal.
Toronto well represented for historic moment
By Vanessa Santilli-Raimondo, The Catholic RegisterTORONTO - About 150 pilgrims from Canada will make their way to Rome to watch history unfold as Archbishop Thomas Collins is elevated to cardinal.
“Any time you can be part of history, people are going to want to experience it live, firsthand, to live it and breathe it,” said Neil MacCarthy, communications director for the archdiocese.
“It’s happened four times in the history of the archdiocese of Toronto. And only 16 times in the history of Canada.”