Pope names Ontario bishop as new archbishop of Edmonton

Published: 2007-03-22

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Richard Smith of Pembroke, Ontario, as the new archbishop of Edmonton, Alberta. The Vatican announced the appointment March 22. Archbishop Smith, 47, has served as president of the Ontario bishops' conference since 2004. He succeeds Archbishop Thomas Collins, who was named to Toronto in December. Archbishop Smith was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he served as a priest after his ordination in 1987. He earned a master's degree in divinity from the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, and from 1991 to 1995 he studied theology at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University, earning a licentiate and a doctorate there. After returning to continue his pastoral duties in Halifax, the new archbishop also served as chaplain of the city's hearing-impaired community. He was vicar general of the Archdiocese of Halifax before he was named bishop of Pembroke in 2002.

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