As Canadians celebrate Canada Day, historically and still known by many as Dominion Day, some good news for the Deanery of Saint John the Baptist has been announced. Our former dean, Father Lee Kenyon, is being appointed pastor of the ordinariate parish in Victoria, British Columbia, and will be moving with his family back to Canada over the summer in order to take on the assignment in the fall. The timing is even more fitting given that it was also announced today that Blessed John Henry Newman, the namesake of the Victoria parish, is to be canonized this October 13th.

The previous pastor, Monsignor Carl Reid, who succeeded Fr Kenyon as Dean of Canada when the latter was given permission to minister in the Diocese of Shrewsbury in England a few years ago, has just recently been named as the new ordinary of the Australian ordinariate, taking over the reins from Mgr Harry Entwistle.

Fr Kenyon was instrumental in guiding our Calgary parish into the Catholic Church back in 2011. As the parish website says, “After almost a year spent in prayer, study and discussion under the leadership of Fr Lee Kenyon, the parish voted by nearly 90% in November 2010 to accept Pope Benedict’s generous invitation for us to come into full communion with the Catholic Church, through the provision of an Ordinariate.”

Fr Kenyon is much beloved by the Canadian ordinariate community and the news that he has been asked to take on this assignment in Victoria is encouraging news for Canadian Catholics of the Anglican tradition. The Deanery of Saint John the Baptist looks forward to welcoming the whole Kenyon family back to Canada!