THE Bishop Ordinary of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, the Right Reverend Peter Wilkinson, OSG has announced the election of two Suffragan Bishops for the province.
The Bishops Elect are Fr. Carl Reid (56 years), Dean and Rector of the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Ottawa since 1998, and Fr. Craig Botterill (48 years), Founding Rector of the Parish of St. Aidan, Halifax, Nova Scotia since 2002.
The consecrations will take place, God willing, Saturday, January 27, 2006 at 1 PM., the feast of St. John Chrysostom and 'The Refounding of the Canadian Episcopate, 1979'.
The venue will be St. Basil's Roman Catholic Church in Ottawa, which is located on the north side of the Queensway (Hwy. 417) at the Maitland Avenue exit, on the east side of Maitland Avenue. For more information, please call the Diocesan Office.
In making the announcement of two Suffragan bishops, Bishop Peter Wilkinson said, "If like Bishop Mercer I retire at age 70, then early next year I shall be half way there, and we need to have younger bishops ready to maintain continuity in the Diocese. As Suffragans only, neither will have right of succession, and unless we elect a Coadjutor in the next few years (as Bishop Mercer did in my case), there will have to be an election for a Bishop Ordinary when I retire.
My plan is to assign Fr Carl to care for Ontario and Quebec, and Fr Craig to care for Atlantic Canada. So as Section 85 of the Constitution requires, I will assign specific duties to the two them.
"To exercise pastoral care and episcopal oversight at the pleasure of and subject always to the direction of the Bishop Ordinary, in the civil Provinces of Ontario and Quebec and to act as Commissary Apostolic in carrying out the normal ecclesiastical duties of the Bishop Ordinary arising from the affairs of the Diocesan Office", and; "To exercise pastoral care and episcopal oversight, at the pleasure of and subject always to the direction of the Bishop Ordinary, in the civil Provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland".
I will care for Western Canada, while remaining the Ordinary.
I have of course prayed about this decision ever since I became the Diocesan in January 2005, but I have also sought advice. Both Bishop Mercer and Archbishop Hepworth enthusiastically support the timing of the election and the men I have proposed to the clergy. Both have said that they would come to Ottawa in January (very brave of both of them!) to consecrate the bishops-elect -- the Primate as Chief Consecrator, Bishop Mercer and me as Co-Consecrators. I hope Bishop Crawley will be able to come and that there will be other Bishops from the TAC present as well.
It is expected the Messenger Journal will have a full report and pictorial in its February issue.
