March 1, 2023
Dear Faithful,
I am delighted to inform you of a few announcements.
Father Alphonsus Iwuji, Parish Priest of Stella Maris in Louisbourg has agreed to serve as Vicar Forane or Dean of the Deanery of Sydney. We thank Father Douglas Murphy for his many years serving as the Dean.
Father Fabian Ihunegbo, Parish Priest of Holy Family in Sydney Mines has agreed to serve as Vocation Director for our Diocese. We thank Father Dennis Lamey for his service as our Vocation Director.
Father Danny MacLennan, Rector of St. Ninian Cathedral in Antigonish has agreed to serve as the Spiritual Advisor for our Diocesan Catholic Women’s League. We thank Father Daniel Boudreau for his six years of service as their Spiritual Advisor.
Father Tom Stephan has agreed to serve as Parish Priest for St. Patrick, Lochaber, St. Paul, Sherbrooke and St. Joseph, St. Joseph. This appointment is effective on March 1, 2023. Father Stephan arrived on November 15, 2022, and he has been assisting at St. John the Baptist Church in New Glasgow. We thank Father Elliott O’Neal for providing excellent service to these parishes since October 2022.
I am delighted to inform you again that on February 5, 2023, David Rankin and Joseph MacMaster were admitted as Candidates for the Sacred Orders of Diaconate and Priesthood for the Diocese of Antigonish at St. Augustine’s Seminary. Candidacy is rite by which our Church recognizes that a seminarian is worthy of being ordained, hence the seminarian become a ‘candidate’ for ordination in the future.
Jesus provides us with moments of joy and consolation on our journey of faith to sustain us through the dark valleys, as we note with this Sunday’s gospel of the Transfiguration. May you experience a time of renewal during this Season of Lent.
Fraternally,
+ Wayne Kirkpatrick
Bishop Wayne Kirkpatrick
