Archbishop Francis Leo presented Papal Honours to six Catholics in the Toronto archdiocese for their faithful service to the Church.

Toronto Archbishop Francis Leo is all ears and wants to hear from clergy and lay parishioners as he helps craft the next pastoral plan for the Archdiocese of Toronto.

As Toronto Archbishop Francis Leo was conferred the pallium at a Sept. 29 ceremony at St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica, the archbishop promised that he would, like the shepherd, keep watch over his flock and keep them safe.

Archbishop Francis Leo of Toronto joined 31 other metropolitan archbishops appointed over the past year who received their pallium from Pope Francis after Mass for the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29.

That nice new priest? Turns out it was Archbishop Leo.

I was born and raised in Glasgow and it does not take long for those who hear my Scottish accent to know I am not a native-born Canadian. However, it does cause confusion at times, as I found out when I came upon a man standing outside a downtown shelter. The shelter is in the heart of the drug area, and so I am always prepared for many and varied conversations.  

Now that Archbishop Francis Leo has assumed the lead for the Archdiocese of Toronto, what can he expect from a typical day? 

When a new bishop is appointed, people naturally ask, “Who is he? Where does he come from? What’s his story? What makes him tick?” said Toronto’s new archbishop at his installation Mass March 25. 

For his own episcopal motto Archbishop Francis Leo adopted the Latin phrase Quodcumque Dixerit Facite (in English: Do whatever He tells you) — words taken from the Gospel according to St. John, by which the Evangelist illustrates the episode known as “the wedding at Cana,” an account steeped in exquisite and profound symbolism, and rich in spiritual and pastoral teachings. 

Installing a new bishop is a very big deal. And every big deal in a Catholic diocese calls for a big liturgy.

An interview with Francis Leo, Canada's youngest bishop heading its largest English-speaking diocese.

His Grace Francis Leo offered up gratitude to Christ as he was made Archbishop of Toronto at a Mass in a packed St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica that was equally filled with the spirit of the Annunciation.

The news came at 5:25 a.m. CST on Feb. 11. Despite my years of absence, big news from home can still rattle me awake: Pope Francis had named Bishop Frank Leo, auxiliary bishop of Montreal, to succeed Cardinal Thomas Collins as archbishop of Toronto.

Greetings Message to the People of God in the Archdiocese of Toronto from Archbishop-designate Most Rev. Francis Leo

On hearing that Montreal Bishop Frank Leo would succeed him as Archbishop of Toronto, Cardinal Thomas Collins immediately thought of Toronto’s first bishop, Michael Power. At a parish feast day Mass in Our Lady of Lourdes, downtown Toronto, Collins reminded the congregation how Toronto’s first bishop also came from Montreal and was also, as a priest, vicar of English-speaking Montrealers.