The University of St. Michael’s College is celebrating the news that our Chancellor, Archbishop Francis Leo, is to be elevated to the College of Cardinals later this year.
“Archbishop Leo has been a valuable source of guidance and support to the university and to me,” says St. Michael’s President David Sylvester. “We look forward to witnessing his service extend from St. Michael’s and the Archdiocese of Toronto to the global Church from Rome.”
A consistory – a meeting of the College of Cardinals – for the creation of new cardinals will take place Dec. 8, 2024 in Rome at the Vatican. Archbishop Leo is one of 21 men from around the world to named as a cardinal.
“I am humbled and honoured to receive this appointment from the Holy Father. I pray and rely on the prayers of the faithful in Toronto that I will be a worthy servant of the Lord Jesus in fulfilling my responsibilities as a member of the College of Cardinals and to continue in my primary role as shepherd of the faithful of the Archdiocese of Toronto,” the archbishop said in a statement released by the Archdiocese of Toronto to announce the appointment.
Leo, an accomplished academic who has served in a variety of roles within the Roman Catholic Church in Canada, the United States and Australia, was sworn in as Chancellor of St. Michael’s in June 2023.
As stated in the University of St. Michael’s College Act (2005), the Chancellor, who is also a member of St. Michael’s Senate, presides at university convocations and confers degrees. Archbishop Leo’s appointment was made by the University’s Collegium, St. Michael’s governing board of directors.
Prior to being named Archbishop of Toronto, Archbishop Leo served as Auxiliary Bishop of Montreal. A respected academic who speaks English, French, Italian, and Spanish, Archbishop Leo has taught philosophy and theology and served as a Judge for the Canadian Appeal Tribunal. He is President and founding member of the Canadian Mariological Society. He is a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem as well as a member of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Dominic (Third Order Dominican).
Leo will preside over the Faculty of Theology convocation on November 9, 2024.