Another bishop chosen from Vancouver

Father Gary Gordon follows Bishops Monroe, Gagnon

By JEFF GRAHAM

For the third time in four years a priest of the Archdiocese of Vancouver has been chosen to become a bishop. On Jan. 5 Pope Benedict XVI named Father Gary Gordon, Pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Chilliwack, Bishop of Whitehorse.

Bishop David Monroe of Kamloops (ordained March 12, 2002) and Bishop Richard Gagnon of Victoria (July 20, 2004) were also chosen from the archdiocese to be bishops in western Canada.

“I am deeply humbled, yet like all challenges, whether climbing mountains or pastoral ministry, it is another adventure of faith and life,” Father Gordon said. “Adventure always holds for me a certain trepidation which tests my frail humanity and my inner trust in God, so with a grateful heart for all I have received in the Archdiocese of Vancouver, I will generously endeavour to be a good steward of what God entrusts to me in this new ministry.”

Archbishop Raymond Roussin, SM, extended his best wishes to Father Gordon.

“First and foremost I wish to congratulate the new bishop-elect of the Diocese of Whitehorse. It is certainly an honour for our archdiocese to have one of our own called to the episcopacy,” he said. “We thank Bishop-elect Gary Gordon for his many years of dedicated service.”

“We rejoice over this choice and at the same time regret his departure.”

Born June 10, 1957, at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, Father Gordon grew up in Burnaby, where he attended St. Francis de Sales Elementary School and St. Thomas More Collegiate. He went on to attend the Seminary of Christ the King, and graduated with a B.A. in philosophy from St. Jerome’s College in Waterloo, Ont. He also went on to attend St. Peter’s Seminary in London, Ont., receiving a Master of Divinity degree in 1982.

Ordained to the priesthood May 22, 1982, at St. Francis de Sales Church in Burnaby, Father Gordon served as assistant pastor of Holy Rosary Cathedral until 1983, then as assistant pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Chilliwack from 1983 to 1988.

Father Gordon was pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish in Mission from 1988 until his appointment in 1992 as pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Chilliwack. From January to July of last year he served as administrator of St. Joseph’s Parish in Mission in addition to his duties at St. Mary’s.

Father Gordon says his most recent appointment came “out of the blue,” and said being chosen to become a bishop “left me feeling like a melting snowman in a west coast rain storm.” However, as the avid hiker told the Apostolic Nuncio who delivered the news to him, “I have snowshoes for wherever the trail leads.”

It is not yet known when Father Gordon will be ordained a bishop.

A lover of golf, fishing, and reading, Father Gordon can often be found braving the wilderness with his dog Celty.

Some years ago Father Gordon described in vivid detail one such wilderness experience in the mountains near the Seminary of Christ the King in Mission.

He said that one cold dark evening, he and his friends had to cross a small bridge consisting of a few ropes over a mountain stream swollen by recent rains. The ropes had become soggy and began to stretch as the six young men followed each other across.

“I don’t think I had ever been so scared in my life,” said Father Gordon, “but we never thought of turning back. We just kept going, the bridge sinking closer to the rushing water underneath.”

“It was the riskiest bridge crossing I could ever want, but it was nothing compared with the risks Jesus took when He undertook to be the bridge to God.”