Friday, June 17, 2016

A new Auxiliary Bishop for Toronto

The Holy Father, Pope Francis has appointed a new Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Toronto (Canada).  Father Robert M. Kasun, CSB has most recently been serving as Pastor of Saint Alphonsus-Saint Clare parish in Edmonton, Alberta.


His Excellency, Robert M. Kasun, CSB
Titular Bishop-elect of Lavello
Auxiliary Bishop-elect of Toronto

Reverend Father Robert M. Kasun, CSB was born on 20 December 1951 in Cudworth, Saskatchewan, in the Diocese of Saskatoon.  He attended elementary and secondary school in Cudworth (1957-1969) and then the University of Saskatchewan (1969-1972), where he earned a Bachelor of English Literature.  In the same year, he entered the noviciate with the Congregation of Saint Basil in Toronto, and after noviciate, he continued his studies at Saint Basil's College in Toronto.  In 1976, he received a Master of Divinity degree from the University of Saint Michael's College in Toronto.  He then earned a Bachelor (1983) and a Masters in Education (1986) from the University of Toronto.

He was ordained a priest on 24 June 1978 for the Congregation of Saint Basil, and afterwards, he began his teaching ministry in schools operated by the Basilian Fathers in Merrillville, Indiana, and in Ontario at Saint Charles College, Sudbury (1978-1979) and at Saint Michael's College, Toronto (1980-1985). He also served as Vocation Director for the Basilian Fathers based in Rochester, New York (1985-1988), and taught with the Calgary Catholic District School Board at Saint Francis High School in Calgary (1988-1992).  From 1992-1996, he served as Associate Pastor and then as Pastor (1996-2001) at Saint Pius X parish in Calgary; Regional Representative for Western Canada with the Congregation of Saint Basil (1992-2000), Pastor of Saint Thomas More parish in Calgary (2001-2009) and Pastor of Saint Alphonsus-Saint Clare parish in Edmonton, two inner-city parishes that have been twinned (2009-present).

Bishop-elect Kasun will now serve the Archdiocese of Toronto, assisting His Eminence, Thomas Cardinal Collins along with Their Excellencies, John Boissonneau, Wayne Kirkpatrick and Vincent Nguyen.  The Archdiocese of Toronto includes 249 parishes and missions serving a population of 1,626,465 Catholics.  There are currently 296 diocesan priests, 413 priests who are members of Institutes of Consecrated Life, 130 Permanent Deacons, 556 Religious Sisters, 44 Religious Brothers and 68 Lay Pastoral Workers.

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