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Archbishop Francis Leo smiles at his installation Mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral in March 2023, 18 months before being called to become a cardinal.
Michael Swan
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Archbishop of Toronto Francis Leo woke up at 6:20 a.m. on Oct.6 to a text-tone chorus.
“My cellphone lights up like a Christmas tree and I was getting a lot of messages that I did not understand,” said Leo to The Catholic Register. “Friends and family from Italy wrote ‘congratulations,’ and I’m not quite understanding for what.”
After reading several messages and perusing The Vatican website, he learnt about his forthcoming elevation to the College of Cardinals. Pope Francis will hold a Consistory on Dec. 8 in Rome to install Cardinal-elect Leo and the 20 other appointees and present them with their red hats.
During Pope Francis’ Angelus address on Oct. 6, he called for the Catholic faithful to “pray for the new Cardinals, that in confirming their commitment to Christ, the merciful and faithful High Priest, they may assist me in my ministry as the Bishop of Rome for the good of the holy people of God.”
Cardinal-elect Leo, the only designate from North America, expressed his gratitude to the Pope in a written statement and requested the prayerful support of the Toronto Catholic community.
“I am humbled and honoured to receive this appointment from the Holy Father. “I pray and rely on the prayers of the faithful in Toronto that I will be a worthy servant of the Lord Jesus in fulfilling my responsibilities as a member of the College of Cardinals and to continue in my primary role as shepherd of the faithful of the Archdiocese of Toronto. I entrust to the Blessed Mother Mary, myself and this new ministry of service to the Universal Church and to the Successor of St. Peter, the Pope.”
There will now be 256 Cardinals, including 141 Cardinal electors (Cardinals can vote in a conclave until they reach their 80th birthday).
Cardinal Thomas Collins, Archbishop Emeritus of Toronto, remains a Cardinal elector until January of 2027. Other Cardinal-electors from Canada include Cardinal Gérald Lacroix of the Archdiocese of Quebec and Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Retired Cardinal Marc Ouellet reached the age of 80 earlier this year.
Collins provided The Register with a message of congratulations to Leo, who succeeded him as Archbishop of Toronto on March 25, 2023.
“I am delighted that the Holy Father has called Archbishop Leo to be a cardinal,” We are richly blessed in his pastoral care of this archdiocese, and now he will also assist the Holy Father more directly in serving the universal Church. His appointment as a cardinal is not only a recognition of his many remarkable pastoral gifts and his devoted service over the years but is also a great honour for the Church in Canada. May God abundantly bless him as he enters into this new apostolic mission as a cardinal.”
In humility, instead of positing how he might have personally distinguished himself in the eyes of Pope Francis, Leo credited the overall strength of his Toronto archdiocese for his advancement.
“The archdiocese is a very significant portion of the people of God in Canada,” said Leo. “It has so many Catholics and is a vibrant community. I believe the Holy Father, if I can interpret his thoughts, is recognizing the Catholic community of Toronto first of all. I wouldn’t be able to say anything personal because that would be guessing.”
Archbishop Emeritus of Ottawa-Cornwall Terrence Prendergast keenly provided his impressions on why Leo appealed to Pope Francis. He suggested that Leo’s “goes everywhere” presence in the Archdiocese of Toronto stood out and that the “two of them hit it off” when Leo served as General Secretary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) from 2015 to 2021.
Prendergast lauded the appointment as a “blessing for the Church in English-speaking Canada” for many years to come as the 53-year-old Leo could remain in the College of Cardinals until he turns 80 in 2052.
“I think to have a strong voice from Toronto and English-speaking Canada will be a very good thing to complement Cardinal Lacroix from Quebec,” said Prendergast. “They are both people chosen by Pope Francis so they are both people who he trusts and values. Certainly, with Cardinal(-elect) Leo, he was promoted very quickly, which is a great sign.
“I think it’s also going to help the Church in Ontario,” continued Prendergast. “The Archbishop Toronto is a key player with the Government of Ontario and the civic officials through the cardinal’s dinner – now it will have to be cardinals with a “s” and an apostrophe. Politicians come for that and it is a good place for cardinals to articulate the vision of the Church and to invite people to respect and honour it.”
Born in Montreal in 1971, Leo spent much of his first 51 years serving the French-speaking Catholic community before his unfolding emergence as the active ambassador for English-speaking Canadian Catholics in the College of Cardinals. He was ordained a priest in the Archdiocese of Montreal in 1996, he taught theology and philosophy at the Grand Séminaire de Montréal and served as vicar general and Moderator of the Curia for the archdiocese.
Leo’s final role in Montreal was as Auxiliary Bishop, an appointment he received from Pope Francis on July 16, 2022. He was installed in that position on Sept. 12, 2022, and less than half a year later he was chosen to be Collins’ successor as Archbishop of Toronto on Feb. 11, 2023.
Archbishop Christian Lépine of Montreal lauded Leo’s achievements in a letter provided to The Catholic Register.
“I extend my heartfelt congratulations to His Excellency, the Most Reverend Francis Leo, on his appointment as Cardinal by Pope Francis,” wrote Lepine. “This is a moment of great joy and pride for the Church in Canada, and particularly for us in Montreal, where Cardinal-elect Leo began his priestly journey. His dedication to the Church, his deep theological knowledge, and his exemplary service, both here in our Archdiocese and internationally, have been a true gift to the people of God.”
Cardinal-elect Leo will prepare for the Consistory on Dec. 8 by spending several days in a spiritual retreat. He will also look to finalize the logistical preparations in terms of the celebrations in Rome and the delegation that will accompany him.
And “though it is especially connected to the universal Church and specifically as a support to the Holy Father’s mission,” said Leo, he hopes to discern how he “could serve even more the people of God in Toronto with this new appointment.”
(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)
A version of this story appeared in the October 13, 2024, issue of The Catholic Registerwith the headline "Leo's red hat call came out of the blue".
Since its founding as a diocese on Dec. 17, 1841, Toronto has had 13 chief shepherds, five of whom have been elevated to the College of Cardinals. Below are profiles of the four Cardinals who preceded Archbishop Frank Leo.
James McGuigan was born in Prince Edward Island in 1894, studied at Quebec’s Grand Seminary and obtained doctorates in philosophy and theology. He was ordained in Charlottetown in 1918.
He served in Edmonton under Bishop Henry O’Leary before being ordained Archbishop of Regina in 1930. In 1935, at age 40, McGuigan was appointed to Toronto to take over a Church suffering in the midst of the Depression.
Throughout his long years in Toronto, McGuigan confronted many of the social issues of the time: joblessness, communism, the impact of the Second World War, increasing immigration from a wider variety of nations.
Faced with the lingering animosity between Irish Catholics and largely English and Scottish Protestants, McGuigan was able to build bridges between the two communities and oversee the expansion of the Church to serve Toronto’s newest ethnic communities. In 1945 he became English Canada’s first cardinal. By the early 1960s his deteriorating health left him invalid and he died in 1974.
Gerald Emmett Carter, like Cardinal-elect Leo a native of Montreal, was born on March 1, 1912. He was ordained on May 22, 1937, and his first 25 years in the priesthood were spent working in various educational fields. .
On Dec. 5, 1961, Carter was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of London and became ordinary of the see on Feb. 22, 1964.
Carter was appointed Archbishop of Toronto on April 29, 1978. One year later on June 30, Pope John Paul II elevated him to the College of Cardinals.
Carter contributed significantly to the Catholic community by seeking to improve race relations, by founding Covenant House for street youth, fighting against abortion and protecting the rights of Catholics. He also witnessed the fulfilment of the Ontario government’s promise to provide full funding to Catholic high schools.
Carter’s resignation was announced March 17, 1990. He passed away April 6, 2003.
Aloysius Ambrozic was a native of Gaberje, Slovenia, the second of seven children. As the Second World War came to a close, his family fled its homeland for Austria and lived in displaced persons’ camps where the young Ambrozic completed his high school education.
It was three years after the war’s end that the Ambrozic family came to Canada, settling near Toronto where soon Ambrozic would enter St. Augustine’s Seminary to study philosophy and theology. He was ordained a priest of the archdiocese on June 4, 1955.
Ambrozic served in parishes, taught at St. Augustine’s and continued studies in subsequent years.
Ambrozic was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto on May 27, 1976, 10 years later appointed Coadjutor Archbishop before succeeding Cardinal Carter on March 17, 1990.
Over his years, Ambrozic took on a number of Vatican roles, including with the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People and the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacraments.
Pope John Paul II named Ambrozic Cardinal Jan. 18, 1998, and he was invested Feb. 21 of that year.
During his episcopate, Toronto hosted World Youth Day 2002.
He stepped down on Jan. 30, 2007 and would pass on Aug. 26, 2011 after a long illness.
Thomas Christopher Collins is a native son of Guelph, Ont., born Jan. 16, 1947.
He graduated from the University of Western Ontario and St. Peter’s Seminary in London, Ont., in 1973, the same year he was ordained to the priesthood. After two years working in parishes in the Diocese of Hamilton, Collins was sent to Rome where he studied Scripture and learned numerous languages. Upon his return in 1978 he taught at St. Peter’s before returning to Rome to complete his studies.
Eventually he would return to St. Peter’s where he became dean of theology and then rector. He would become Bishop of St. Paul, Alta. He would be appointed Coadjutor Bishop March 25, 1997, and named Bishop June 30. A similar process would play out two years later when Collins became Coadjutor Archbishop of Edmonton on Feb. 18, 1999, and installed as Archbishop Sept. 13.
Collins would be named Toronto’s Archbishop Dec. 16, 2006, taking over Jan. 30, 2007. In his early days he would establish the Office for Refugees, Archdiocese of Toronto and in 2010, during the Iraqi refugee crisis that saw Christians fleeing the Mideast, personally sponsored an Iraqi refugee family.
Collins was named Cardinal and on Feb. 18, 2012, received the red hat from Pope Benedict. The next year he launched Toronto’s first-ever pastoral plan to transform parishes into hubs of evangelization. He would also launch the “Family of Faith” campaign that by the end of 2016 had raised $171 million in cash and pledges for capital projects in the Archdiocese.
On Feb. 11, 2023, Pope Francis accepted Collins’ resignation.
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Since its founding as a diocese on Dec. 17, 1841, Toronto has had 13 chief shepherds, five of whom have been elevated to the College of Cardinals. Below are profiles of the four Cardinals who preceded Archbishop Frank Leo.
James McGuigan was born in Prince Edward Island in 1894, studied at Quebec’s Grand Seminary and obtained doctorates in philosophy and theology. He was ordained in Charlottetown in 1918.
He served in Edmonton under Bishop Henry O’Leary before being ordained Archbishop of Regina in 1930. In 1935, at age 40, McGuigan was appointed to Toronto to take over a Church suffering in the midst of the Depression.
Throughout his long years in Toronto, McGuigan confronted many of the social issues of the time: joblessness, communism, the impact of the Second World War, increasing immigration from a wider variety of nations.
Faced with the lingering animosity between Irish Catholics and largely English and Scottish Protestants, McGuigan was able to build bridges between the two communities and oversee the expansion of the Church to serve Toronto’s newest ethnic communities. In 1945 he became English Canada’s first cardinal. By the early 1960s his deteriorating health left him invalid and he died in 1974.
Gerald Emmett Carter, like Cardinal-elect Leo a native of Montreal, was born on March 1, 1912. He was ordained on May 22, 1937, and his first 25 years in the priesthood were spent working in various educational fields. .
On Dec. 5, 1961, Carter was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of London and became ordinary of the see on Feb. 22, 1964.
Carter was appointed Archbishop of Toronto on April 29, 1978. One year later on June 30, Pope John Paul II elevated him to the College of Cardinals.
Carter contributed significantly to the Catholic community by seeking to improve race relations, by founding Covenant House for street youth, fighting against abortion and protecting the rights of Catholics. He also witnessed the fulfilment of the Ontario government’s promise to provide full funding to Catholic high schools.
Carter’s resignation was announced March 17, 1990. He passed away April 6, 2003.
Aloysius Ambrozic was a native of Gaberje, Slovenia, the second of seven children. As the Second World War came to a close, his family fled its homeland for Austria and lived in displaced persons’ camps where the young Ambrozic completed his high school education.
It was three years after the war’s end that the Ambrozic family came to Canada, settling near Toronto where soon Ambrozic would enter St. Augustine’s Seminary to study philosophy and theology. He was ordained a priest of the archdiocese on June 4, 1955.
Ambrozic served in parishes, taught at St. Augustine’s and continued studies in subsequent years.
Ambrozic was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto on May 27, 1976, 10 years later appointed Coadjutor Archbishop before succeeding Cardinal Carter on March 17, 1990.
Over his years, Ambrozic took on a number of Vatican roles, including with the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People and the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacraments.
Pope John Paul II named Ambrozic Cardinal Jan. 18, 1998, and he was invested Feb. 21 of that year.
During his episcopate, Toronto hosted World Youth Day 2002.
He stepped down on Jan. 30, 2007 and would pass on Aug. 26, 2011 after a long illness.
Thomas Christopher Collins is a native son of Guelph, Ont., born Jan. 16, 1947.
He graduated from the University of Western Ontario and St. Peter’s Seminary in London, Ont., in 1973, the same year he was ordained to the priesthood. After two years working in parishes in the Diocese of Hamilton, Collins was sent to Rome where he studied Scripture and learned numerous languages. Upon his return in 1978 he taught at St. Peter’s before returning to Rome to complete his studies.
Eventually he would return to St. Peter’s where he became dean of theology and then rector. He would become Bishop of St. Paul, Alta. He would be appointed Coadjutor Bishop March 25, 1997, and named Bishop June 30. A similar process would play out two years later when Collins became Coadjutor Archbishop of Edmonton on Feb. 18, 1999, and installed as Archbishop Sept. 13.
Collins would be named Toronto’s Archbishop Dec. 16, 2006, taking over Jan. 30, 2007. In his early days he would establish the Office for Refugees, Archdiocese of Toronto and in 2010, during the Iraqi refugee crisis that saw Christians fleeing the Mideast, personally sponsored an Iraqi refugee family.
Collins was named Cardinal and on Feb. 18, 2012, received the red hat from Pope Benedict. The next year he launched Toronto’s first-ever pastoral plan to transform parishes into hubs of evangelization. He would also launch the “Family of Faith” campaign that by the end of 2016 had raised $171 million in cash and pledges for capital projects in the Archdiocese.
On Feb. 11, 2023, Pope Francis accepted Collins’ resignation.
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