Cardinal Thomas Collins delivers an online Good Friday service in an empty St. Michael’s Cathedral in Toronto on April 10, 2020.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
The largest archdiocese in Canada’s Catholic Church has a new man at the helm as of today.
About 1,200 people were expected to attend the mass of installation for Frank Leo, who now serves as Archbishop of Toronto.
The installation ceremony at St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica in downtown Toronto took place about six weeks after Pope Francis formally named Leo to the post.
Leo succeeds Cardinal Thomas Collins, who offered his resignation on his 75th birthday in January 2022 in compliance with a rule stating all bishops must offer to step down when they reach that age.
Leo was first named a Bishop in July 2022, making him one of Canada’s newest appointees to such a role, and he was installed as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Montreal two months later.
He was born in Montreal in 1971 to Italian immigrant parents, entered the Grand Séminaire de Montréal in 1990 and was ordained a priest for service to the city’s archdiocese in 1996.