Cardinal Ambrozic

Cardinal Ambrozic

There was both sadness and relief when I heard Friday morning of the death of Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic.  Then Auxilliary (assistant) Bishop Ambrozic confirmed me in 1977 in St. Bartholemew's Parish in Scarborough.  As Archbishop he Ordained me in 1993, and assigned me to St. Jerome's Parish, and then in 1998, as Cardinal Ambrozic, Assigned me to Holy Martyrs of Japan Parish in Bradford.  So there was sadness in the death of a man who had influence upon my life for over 30 years. Yet there was also relief, because I had visited him in March of this year, and saw a man who was a shell of his former self.  He was thin, was unable to speak, and had constant tremors from the Parkinson's Disease.  News reports today indicated he was a shy man - not really comfortable with the limelight - yet also a kind and generous man.  As an immigrant himself, he was particularly attuned to the needs that immigrant communities experience.
I can attest to the personal, and compassionate side of Cardinal Ambrozic.  I would have an opportunity to meet him each year as a seminarian, and those conversations grew more and more conversational, if not comfortable.
In my final year of studies at St. Augustine's Seminary, I asked for an appointment to speak about a personal matter.  I had the appointment within days, and told him of how my mother was not in favour of me being ordained, yet I had become quite close to a Permanent Deacon and his wife (Bill and Yvette Rankin) and I wanted them to "vest" me at my Diaconate Ordination ceremony.  This was a little unusual, since it was usually a Priest who did the vesting - so I wanted to talk to the "top gun!"  Well he quite quickly deferred the vesting issue to his priest assistant - and master of ceremonies... but he wanted to talk more about my Mom, and how things were going for me when I went home.  We talked for over 20 minutes, and I found him more and more compassionate.  I can say that Cardinal Ambrozic knew us as priests of Toronto.  He knew us by name, he knew our strengths, he knew our faults.  He knew the parish we were in, and he knew where he was sending us. He was the first Toronto Archbishop that had come from the ranks of Toronto Priests since Cardinal McGuigan. 

Cardinal Ambrozic will lie "in state" at St. Michael's Cathedral (60 Bond St., Toronto) on Tuesday August 30th from 2-4 and 7-9 pm.
His Funeral Mass will be celebrated Wednesday August 31st, at 10:30 am at the Cathedral.  Donations are being directed to ShareLife and Shepherds' Trust.

     Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord,
         and let perpetual light shine on him.
     May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed,
         through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.