Thomas Christopher Collins

Thomas Christopher Collins (born 16 January 1947) is a Canadian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the tenth and current Archbishop of Toronto, having previously served as Bishop of Saint Paul in Alberta (1997–1999) and Archbishop of Edmonton (1999–2006). On 6 January 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him a cardinal at the 18 February 2012 consistory.

His Eminence Thomas Christopher Collins
Cardinal, Archbishop of Toronto
See	Toronto
Appointed	16 December 2006
Installed	30 January 2007
Predecessor	Aloysius Ambrozic
Other posts	Cardinal-Priest of San Patrizio
Orders
Ordination	5 May 1973 by Paul Francis Reding
Consecration	14 May 1997 by Anthony Frederick Tonnos
Created cardinal	18 February 2012 by Benedict XVI
Rank	Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Birth name	Thomas Christopher Collins
Born	16 January 1947 Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Previous post	Coadjutor Bishop of Saint Paul in Alberta (1997) Bishop of Saint Paul in Alberta (1997–1999) Coadjutor Archbishop of Edmonton (1999) Archbishop of Edmonton (1999–2006) Apostolic Administrator of Saint Paul in Alberta (2001)
Motto	Deum adora ('Worship God'; Revelation 22:9)

Styles of Thomas Christopher Collins
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Toronto

Ordination history of Thomas Christopher Collins
History Diaconal ordination Date 14 May 1972 Priestly ordination Ordained by Paul Francis Reding (Hamilton, ON aux.) Date 5 May 1973 Episcopal consecration Principal consecrator Anthony Frederick Tonnos (Hamilton, ON) Co-consecrators Raymond Roy (St Paul, AB); John Michael Sherlock (London, ON) Date 14 May 1997 Cardinalate Elevated by Pope Benedict XVI Date 18 February 2012
Episcopal succession Bishops consecrated by Thomas Christopher Collins as principal consecrator Joseph Luc André Bouchard 9 November 2001 Vincent Nguyên 13 January 2010 Wayne Joseph Kirkpatrick 25 July 2012

Early life and education

Collins was born in Guelph, Ontario, the son of George Collins, circulation manager of The Guelph Mercury and his wife, a legal secretary; he has two older sisters. As a child, he was an altar server at the Our Lady Immaculate Church. He attended St. Stanislaw's Elementary School and Bishop Macdonell High School,[1] where he was inspired by one of his English teachers to join the priesthood.

Earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from St. Jerome College, Waterloo in 1969, Collins was ordained to the diaconate on 14 May 1972. In 1973, he received a Master of Arts in English from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Theology from St. Peter's Seminary, London.[2]

Priesthood

Collins was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Hamilton, ON by Bishop Paul Reding on 5 May 1973.[3] He then served as associate pastor at Holy Rosary Parish in Burlington and at Christ the King Cathedral, as well as an English teacher and chaplain at Cathedral Boys' High School.[1] He furthered his studies in Rome, specializing in sacred scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, from which he obtained a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture in 1978.[4]

Upon his return to Ontario in 1978, Collins served as a lecturer in English at King's College and in Scripture at St. Peter's Seminary, where he later became spiritual director (1981) and associate professor of Scripture (1985). Returning to Rome, he completed a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1986.[4] His doctoral dissertation was entitled: "Apocalypse 22:6–21 as the Focal Point of Moral Teaching and Exhortation in the Apocalypse."[2]

After becoming associate editor of Discover the Bible in 1989, Collins returned to St. Peter's Seminary as Dean of Theology and vice-rector in 1992.[2] He later served as rector of St. Peter's from 1995 to 1997.[4]

Episcopal ministry

Diocese of Saint Paul, Alberta

On 25 March 1997, Collins was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Saint Paul in Alberta by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 14 May from Bishop Anthony Tonnos, with Bishops Raymond Roy and John Sherlock serving as co-consecrators, at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Hamilton, Ontario.[5] He selected as his episcopal motto: "Deum Adora", meaning, "Worship God" (Revelation 22:9).[2]

Collins succeeded Bishop Roy as the fifth Bishop of Saint Paul in Alberta upon the latter's retirement on 30 June 1997.[3] He became a member of the National Commission of Theology of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) that same year.[2]

Archdiocese of Edmonton

Collins was promoted to Coadjutor Archbishop of Edmonton on 18 February 1999, and later succeeded Archbishop Joseph MacNeil as the sixth Archbishop of Edmonton on the following 7 June. He served as president of the Conference of Bishops of Alberta.[6]

In Edmonton Collins initiated monthly lectio divina sessions at St. Joseph's Cathedral Basilica. He also established St. Benedict's Chapel in a vacant store in Edmonton's City Centre Mall for ministry to downtown shoppers and office workers.[1]

Within the CCCB, he served as Chairman of the National Commission of Theology (1999–2001), and Chairman of the National Commission on Christian Unity] (2001–2003).[2] He was also a member of the organizing committee for World Youth Day 2002, which was held in Toronto. From 1999 to 2007, he was President of the Alberta Conference of Catholic Bishops. In addition to his duties as ordinary of the Edmonton Archdiocese, he was Apostolic Administrator of Saint Paul in Alberta from 16 March to 8 September 2001.[5]

Archbishop of Toronto

After serving in Edmonton for nearly eight years, Collins was named the tenth Archbishop of Toronto by Pope Benedict XVI on 16 December 2006.[5] He succeeded Aloysius Ambrozic, and was formally installed at St. Michael's Cathedral on 30 January 2007.[2] He served as Chancellor of the University of St. Michael's College and the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies in Toronto. He is heavily involved in the pro-life movement. Collins was elected president of the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2008.[6]

Collins was the apostolic visitor to the Archdiocese of Cashel in Ireland following the publication of the Ryan and Murphy Reports in 2009. He was part of a team that included Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Cardinal Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster, who inspected Cardinal Brady's Archdiocese of Armagh, Sean O'Malley of Boston, who inspected the Archdiocese of Dublin, and Ottawa's Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, who looked at the west of Ireland (Archdiocese of Tuam), while Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan was apostolic visitor to the Irish seminaries.[7]

Archbishop Collins is a member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. He has also served as the Delegate of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith for Anglicanorum Coetibus (providing for personal ordinariates for Anglicans entering into full communion with the Catholic Church).[6]

On 18 February 2012, he was created Cardinal-Priest of San Patrizio.[3] He will retain voting rights in a potential conclave until his 80th birthday. In addition to his other duties in the Roman Curia, Cardinal Collins was appointed a member of the Congregation for Catholic Education.

He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that elected Pope Francis.

Honours

Honorary degrees

Honorary degrees

Location	Date	School	Degree	Gave Commencement Address
Nova Scotia		St. Francis Xavier University	Doctorate [8]

See also

• Archbishop of Toronto
• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto
• Apostolic visitation to Ireland

References

1. Swan, Michael. "From humble beginnings Collins will rise to cardinal", The Catholic Register, February 12, 2012
2. "His Grace, Archbishop Thomas Collins". Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto.
3. "Thomas Cardinal Collins", Archdiocese of Edmonton
4. "Archbishop Thomas Christopher Collins". Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto.
5. "Archbishop Thomas Christopher Collins". Catholic-Hierarchy.org.
6. "Collins Card. Thomas Christopher", Vatican Press office
7. Bishops summoned to Rome for abuse crisis talks
8. https://www.catholicregister.org/features/featureseries/item/13845-from-humble-beginnings-thomas-collins-rises-to-cardinal

External links

• Salt+Light TV Interview: Archbishop Thomas Collins – Witness on YouTube
• Salt+Light TV Interview: A Cardinal in the Making: Archbishop Thomas Collins on YouTube