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=Peter Choy =

Peter Choy Wai-man (, born 1959) is a Roman Catholic priest for the Diocese of Hong Kong and served as one of its four vicars general from 2017 until 2019. After studying for the priesthood at the Holy Spirit Seminary, he was ordained a priest in 1986. He has reportedly been appointed as the next Bishop of Hong Kong. However, the announcement of his appointment has been delayed given the political strife in Hong Kong at the time, coupled with the perception within the local Catholic community that Choy is too close to both the local and mainland Chinese governments.

Early life
Choy was born in British Hong Kong on [day and month unknown], 1959. He attended seminary at the Holy Spirit Seminary in Hong Kong, starting in 1979. On 28 September 1985, he was ordained to the diaconate at St. Jude's Church in North Point. Exactly nine months later, on 28 June 1986, he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. He offered his first Mass at St. Jude's Church on the very next day (the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul). Subsequently, he undertook postgraduate studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, obtaining a Doctorate of Theology from that institution.

Presbyteral ministry
According to a report from AsiaNews, Choy has been described as "well-versed from a theological point of view" and "much loved by Catholics for his pastoral style". He has served as president of Holy Spirit Seminary (his alma mater), where he was also a lecturer specialising in the "theological and spiritual formation of the laity and lay ministries". He was also a professor and member of the executive committee at the Centre for Catholic Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, as well as president of the Yuan Dao Study Society (promoting Catholic research) and board member of the Institute of Sino-Christian Studies.

Choy was one of nine Catholic priests barred from entering mainland China during the second half of 2011. Even though he had a valid travel visa, this was promptly cancelled by Chinese immigration authorities upon his arrival without any reason being given. This was seen as retaliation by the Chinese government for the excommunication of two Chinese bishops who were ordained without the approval of the Holy See in June and July of 2011.

Choy was in charge of the Diocese's heritage revitalisation intiative called "Following Thy Way", which sought to restore 11 derelict churches and chapels on Sai Kung Peninsula, and create a heritage trail for pilgrimages. The aim of the project is to "restore the history of Catholic Church in Hong Kong", with Choy expressing his hope that local Catholics would be able to "awaken [their] missionary spirit" by taking part in this initiative. He estimated that each place of worship would cost approximately HK$15 million to renovate, with funding from the Development Bureau's Financial Assistance for Maintenance Scheme fixed at a maximum of HK$2 million per application.

Bishop Michael Yeung appointed Choy as one of the diocese's four vicars general (VG), effective 15 October 2017. He joined Dominic Chan (VG since 1992), Joseph Ha (VG since 2014), and fellow new appointee Benedict Lam. The office of vicar general became vacant upon Yeung's death on 3 January 2019. Choy was mentioned as one of the candidates to succeed Yeung as bishop, along with Ha and Stephen Lee of Macau.

In May 2019, Choy travelled with John Tong Hon to Split, Croatia, to visit Ante Jozić – who was seriously injured in a car crash a month earlier – in hospital. Jozić was head of the Holy See Study Mission in Hong Kong from 2010–2019 and acted as the Vatican's de facto representative to mainland China. The local ordinary of the archdiocese hosted Choy and Tong for lunch, together with Pietro Parolin – the Cardinal Secretary of State who was also in town to visit Jozić – and other officials from the Holy See.

At the start of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests in June 2019, Choy accompanied Bishop Ha to a peaceful demonstration taking place outside of the Legislative Council Complex. Both prelates were pictured sitting on the floor with the protesters. In November of that same year, Choy highlighted the principles that churches in the Diocese should adhere to in relation to their use and function. This issue arose after police officers controversially entered the compound of Holy Cross Church in Shau Kei Wan to arrest protesters. He stated that in emergency situations, churches can be opened to people seeking sanctuary and needing first aid or medical treatment, citing humanitarian grounds and "out of the virtue of love".

Appointment as bishop
In mid-January 2020, one year after Yeung's death and Tong's appointment as apostolic administrator of the Diocese, the Catholic News Agency (CNA) reported that Choy had been selected as the new Bishop of Hong Kong, and that the decision was given "final approval" by the Holy See. The announcement of his appointment, however, was delayed over fears that the appointment would be negatively received by the Catholic clergy and laity in Hong Kong, many of whom support or are actively involved in the pro-democracy protests that were ongoing at the time. Choy is perceived as too close to the Hong Kong and mainland Chinese governments – due to his "good working relationship" with government officials – and distant from the city's pro-democracy movement. According to one local priest who spoke to CNA, Choy was "the inside candidate from the beginning" and even the preferred successor of Yeung, who also had a reputation of being close to the government while he was bishop. Yeung reportedly intended to request the Vatican to appoint Choy as a second auxiliary bishop of the Diocese to serve alongside Ha, but died before such a request could be made.

Choy's suitability for the role was been privately called into question by members of the clergy in the Hong Kong diocese. One priest close to the diocesan chancery told CNA that many Catholics were worried that Choy would be incapable of defending the local church. Another cleric was more blunt in his critical assessment of Choy, labeling him as a "pro-Beijing hawk" and a "sworn enemy of [Cardinal] Zen". He asserted that this appointment was "further proof of how the Holy See is selling the faithful down the Yangtze, or in this case Pearl River". When asked about the impending appointment, Joseph Zen stated his fear that it would sow further division among Chinese Catholics, especially young Catholics in the city who are "very strongly against this nomination" and who hope that the Holy See would re-evaluate its decision to appoint Choy. Zen also noted how there was "broad support" among the Catholic populace in Hong Kong for Bishop Ha, whose active engagement in the demonstrations reportedly led to the Vatican reversing its decision to appoint him as the next Bishop of Hong Kong.

List of ordinaries




Early life
Monroe was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on April 14, 1941. He is the second of six children of Gladys Mary (Parker) and Lewis Monroe. He is of Scottish descent, later serving as the chaplain of the Clan Munro Association of Canada. Although he was born within the parish of St. John the Apostle, Monroe was baptized at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish. He completed his primary education at St. Augustine's and St. Anthony's elementary schools, before going to St. Patrick Regional Secondary School in eighth and ninth grade. It was on the playground there during a softball game in the mid-1950s that Monroe felt a calling to the priesthood. He consequently enrolled in minor seminary in grade ten. Starting in 1959, he attended major seminary at the Seminary of Christ the King in Mission, studying philosophy and theology there. On May 20, 1967, Monroe was ordained to the Catholic priesthood at St. Anthony's Church by James Carney, the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Vancouver at the time.

Presbyteral ministry
Monroe's first pastoral assignment was as assistant parish priest at Holy Rosary Cathedral, which he began three weeks after his ordination. He became the acting chancellor in September of that same year, after being transferred to St. Theresa's Parish in Burnaby. In August 1969, he assumed the duties of parish administrator of St. Stephen's Parish in North Vancouver and continued in that role until July the following year, during which time he became administrator of St. Pius X Parish as well. He was also a chaplain residing on-site at St. Paul's Hospital for five years. During his stint there, he had day-to-day encounters with individuals suffering from mental health issues and addiction. He recalled decades later how he "saw them struggle and saw them succeed".

Monroe subsequently served as pastor of St. Edmund's Parish (also in North Vancouver) from 1978 until 1982, then as rector of Holy Rosary Cathedral. In the latter role, he oversaw the renovation of the cathedral in the run up to the papal visit of Pope John Paul II in 1984, with the Vancouver Sun crediting Monroe's "artistic bent" for ameliorating the previous "drab interior". He was also responsible for organizing the liturgy for the visit. He recounted his conversation with the Pope when the latter gazed out the windows at the North Shore Mountains before leaving Vancouver; Monroe asked, "Would you like to go there, Holy Father?" After he replied in the affirmative, Monroe reminded him that "popes can't do that".

Monroe was made a Prelate of Honour of His Holiness on September 14, 1990, in recognition of his service and dedication to the local church. James Carney, the Archbishop of Vancouver, indicated in his request to the Holy Father that "[t]he diversity and importance of the posts in which Fr. Monroe serves reflect the spirit of cooperation with which he has undertaken any and all tasks assigned to him". In July 1995, he succeeded John Stewart as vicar general of the Archdiocese, after the latter died the month before. He also became parish priest of St. John the Apostle Parish that same year, his final pastoral assignment before becoming bishop in 2002.

Up until his appointment as bishop, Monroe concurrently held several posts in the archdiocesan chancery, such as chairman of the Building and Liturgical commissions, and editor of The B.C. Catholic (the Archdiocesan newspaper). He also served as chaplain to many communities. The most notable of these was as chaplain to the deaf, a ministry he started doing work for in 1968. He said Mass regularly in sign language while he was a parish priest. This enabled deaf parishioners to take part alongside those who can hear, ensuring that the former group was "not made to feel excluded".

Episcopal ministry
Monroe was appointed as the fifth Bishop of Kamloops, on January 5, 2002. The see had been vacant since September 1999, when Lawrence Sabatini resigned as bishop. Monroe was succeeded as both pastor of St. John the Apostle Parish and vicar general of the Archdiocese by Richard Gagnon. He was consecrated bishop on March 12, 2002, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Downtown Vancouver, with Adam Exner, the Archbishop of Vancouver, serving as the principal consecrator. He was installed in Kamloops six days later on March 18.

Shortly after his installation, Monroe undertook a canonical visitation of all 21 parishes and 50 missions in the Diocese, which covers an area of almost 120000 km2. This entailed going on a road trip lasting over several months. He acted as co-consecrator at the episcopal ordination of Gary Gordon, held in Whitehorse, Yukon, on March 22, 2006. Monroe made an ad limina visit to the Holy See on October 5 of that year, together with four other bishops from the Assembly of Western Catholic Bishops. As a member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, he was part of the Commission for Catechesis of the English Sector, as well as co-chair of the Roman Catholic–United Church Dialogue.

Monroe was seriously injured on October 22, 2010, when a man attacked him at the rectory of Sacred Heart Cathedral. The individual – who had not previously encountered Monroe – had a history of mental health issues and had escaped from the Royal Inland Hospital immediately before the attack. Monroe was hospitalized for 55 days, before being discharged in mid-December in what his sisters described as an "early Christmas gift". Monroe issued a statement at the time he was discharged in which he forgave the man who attacked him. He continued his recuperation at a recovery centre on the outskirts of Cache Creek. He eventually completed physiotherapy and was able to drive again by the end of March 2011.

Later life
After 14 years of serving as Bishop of Kamloops, Monroe reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 in April 2016. His resignation was accepted by Pope Francis two months later on June 1. Monroe served as one of the two co-consecrators at the episcopal ordination of his successor, Joseph Phuong Nguyen, on August 25 of that same year. He subsequently returned to his hometown of Vancouver, where he has stayed engaged with the life of the archdiocese there. He has filled in for pastors in their parishes, served as chaplain for the British Columbia Children's Hospital, and celebrated Mass for deaf parishioners from time to time. He has, over time, collected nativity scenes from around the world, which he began doing in 2003. He celebrated the golden jubilee of his priestly ordination in May 2017.

Annulments
Monroe articulated his belief in March 1993 that "people sometimes have the impression that … the Church is much freer in doing this [i.e. annulments] now than it used to be", when this was not the case. He proceeded to affirm how the Church treats the sacrament of marriage as a serious matter, and that obtaining an declaration of nullity remained a complicated procedure.

Benedict XVI's resignation
Monroe said that he was unsurprised by the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in February 2013, adding that "if he feels that this is time, OK". He also cautioned against expecting Benedict's successor to make changes to church teachings for the sake of modernization, noting that "truth never changes so what does 'modernize' mean? The things that are the life of the church are faith and morals in themselves".

Corporal punishment
The federal government promised to adopt all the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. One of its calls to action was for the repeal of the section in the Criminal Code that allows for limited corporal punishment. When asked for his views on the matter in January 2016, Monroe stated that he would advise against corporal punishment, preferring "instruction over destruction". He cited an example from his childhood of his own father, who got Monroe's younger brother to learn how to sew and "repair the damage" he caused, after the latter cut a hole in Monroe's bedsheet to create a tent.

Distinctions

 * Holy See: Order of the Holy Sepulchre (October 2011)

Early life
Franken was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on September 25, 1962. He was one of four children of Alfonsious and Wilhelmina Franken, both of whom immigrated to Canada from the Netherlands and married in Vancouver. He had a younger brother who died at around the age of five. Franken attended St. Mary’s Parish in his hometown, completed his primary education at a secular elementary school, and felt a calling to the priesthood when he was eleven. He then studied at St. Thomas More Collegiate, graduating in 1980, before joining St. Peter's Seminary in London, Ontario. After two years of studies, Franken left the seminary to "do some growing up outside" of it. He consequently resided in a L'Arche community and looked after individuals with intellectual disabilities, which he later described as "a very informative experience". He went back to the seminary after two years, with his sojourn giving him "a deeper understanding of the call to priesthood in terms of service". On May 13, 1989, Franken was ordained to the Catholic priesthood by James Carney, the Archbishop of Vancouver at the time.

Presbyteral ministry
Franken's first pastoral assignment was as parish vicar at Holy Rosary Cathedral in Downtown Vancouver, before being transferred to Star of the Sea Parish in Surrey. After six years as an assistant parish priest, he undertook studies at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, graduating with a Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1997 and obtaining a diploma in spiritual theology from the Angelicum shortly afterwards. Upon his return to Vancouver, Franken was appointed as vocations director in 1997 before becoming a full-fledged pastor at Saint Francis de Sales Parish in Burnaby the following year. He subsequently served as parish priest of Immaculate Conception Parish in Delta from 2003 to 2010.

In 2011, Franken became pastor of Saint Anthony Parish in West Vancouver, as well as episcopal vicar for priestly life. He was later made dean of the North Shore Deanery in 2015, before succeeding Joseph Phuong Nguyen as vicar general of the archdiocese in August of the following year, after the latter was appointed as Bishop of Kamloops earlier in June.

Episcopal ministry
Franken was appointed as the eighth Bishop of Saint Paul in Alberta, on September 15, 2022. The resignation of his predecessor, Paul Terrio, who at 79 was four years past the mandatory retirement age of 75, was accepted on that same day. Franken was succeeded as Vancouver's vicar general by Gregory Smith. He was consecrated bishop and installed on December 12, 2022, at St. Paul Cathedral in St. Paul, with Richard William Smith, the Archbishop of Edmonton, serving as the principal consecrator. In July of the following year, Franken oversaw celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the diocese.

Early life
Jennings was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, on October 4, 1896. He was one of ten children of Patrick and Elizabeth (Wallace); he had five brothers and four sisters. He completed his primary education at St. Malachi Elementary School, before going to Saint John High School and graduating in 1915.

Auxiliary bishop of Vancouver (1941–1946)
Jennings was appointed auxiliary bishop of Vancouver and titular bishop of Sala on March 25, 1941. He was consecrated bishop on September 21, 1978, at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Edmonton. William Mark Duke, the Archbishop of Vancouver, served as the principal consecrator, with several of Jennings' siblings and their 84-year-old mother in attendance.

Early life
[Redacted] was born in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, on [DOB redacted]. His delivery was a difficult one – his mother was unconscious and gravely ill, and he nearly died. As a result, one of the nurses (who was Catholic) administered an emergency baptism to him a few hours after his birth using the Trinitarian formula. She gave him the name [redacted], after the neighbouring church whose shadow fell across the hospital room. Although his parents originally intended to call him 'John', they stuck with the name [redacted], with John becoming his middle name. The nurse wrote out a baptismal certificate on hospital notepaper explaining what she had done. This was retained by [redacted]'s father and was the only evidence of his baptism into the Catholic Church as an infant. Raised in a non-religious family, [redacted] completed his secondary education at the Bexhill Grammar School for Boys. It was during history class there that he was first introduced to the Tractarian Movement. Before commencing his studies at King's College London (KCL) in 1964, [redacted] took a gap year spanning two years. During this time, he worked as a crane driver in the Sheffield steel industry, then as a stage manager in theatre and occasionally acted in plays as a walk-on.

[Redacted] read theology at KCL and became captain of its rugby team. He was elected president of the KCL Students' Union in 1969, and was also active with the National Union of Students (NUS), culminating with his participation in the May 1968 civil unrest in France. He campaigned together with Jack Straw and Charles Clarke; [redacted] was head of Straw's second campaign to become president of the NUS in April 1969, which was ultimately successful. The two men first met and became friends while part of the same NUS delegation to Chile in the summer of 1966.

Ministry in the Church of England
After his ordination, [redacted] served as an assistant pastor in Sheerness for his curacy which lasted eight years. He was then made pastor of the medieval church of St. Mary Magdalene and St. Lawrence in Davington near Faversham. There, he resided in the adjacent priory manor house and was a neighbour of Bob Geldof; due to the similarity of their surnames they periodically received the other person's mail. For twenty years, [redacted] was a leading member of the General Synod and the Senior Proctor in Convocation of Canterbury.

Fostering Anglican–Catholic dialogue
He called for the law barring Catholics from succeeding to the British throne to be repealed, opining that the Church of England "d[id] not need that kind of protection".

Opposition to the ordination of women
In November 1984, a simple majority of the General Synod voted in favour of admitting women into the priesthood. Although this overturned the result of a 1978 vote on the same question, it fell short of the requisite two-thirds needed to adopt the measure. Despite the setback, [redacted] vowed to fight on in resisting attempts to change ordination, considering it merely "the temporary loss of a battle and far from the loss of the war". Although Robert Runcie, the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, was "convinced" by the arguments in favour, he too advocated a vote against for the sake of internal unity and to avoid harming the ecumenical cause for reunion with the Catholic Church. Less than a year later, [redacted] was at the forefront in opposing the proposal for female deacons, which the General Synod voted to allow in July 1985. He argued the change would bring about friction among deacons and "increase pressure for the ordination of women as priests". He added how in the aftermath of the vote, he was now counselling on a weekly basis at least one of his fellow clergymen who had become "disillusioned", having previously advised up to a dozen such annually.

[Redacted]'s fears came to fruition seven years later, when the General Synod revisited the question of women priests. This time it approved the measure, which received a two-thirds majority by only two votes. During the debate that lasted five and a half hours, George Carey, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, spoke out in favour of ordaining women to the priesthood, even though it was anticipated that he would remain neutral on the subject. [Redacted] then countered and delivered the arguments against. When the outcome was announced, he cautioned that it would "pit diocese against diocese, parish against parish, and parishioner against parishioner". In an interview with Jeremy Paxman on the evening following the vote, [redacted] declared that the Church of England had not merely moved the goalposts, but had in fact "put them on wheels". He stressed that his stance against women priests was not borne out of misogyny – even though he was "open to the possibility of women priests", he maintained the Church of England "did not have the authority to make this decision" on its own. Indeed, Pope John Paul II issued the ecclesiastical letter Ordinatio sacerdotalis on 22 May 1994 – two years after the General Synod's vote – affirming that the Catholic Church has no authority to ordain women to the priesthood.

Conversion to Roman Catholicism
[Redacted] promptly resigned from the General Synod after the result of the vote was announced. However, he remained pastor of his parish church in Davington for 18 months more. During this time, he sent a letter to each member of the parish detailing their options. Alongside Bishop Graham Leonard, Fr. Christopher Colven and Fr. John Broadhurst, [redacted] also held discussions with Basil Hume – the Archbishop of Westminster – and other senior members of the Catholic clergy in England and Wales over the possibilities for "a mass conversion" of Anglicans to Roman Catholicism. At Easter of 1994, [redacted] was received into the Catholic Church as a layman, together with approximately 35 members of his former parish. This midlife change was challenging for him and his wife – they were forced to move out of their Davington Priory vicarage and several of their friends parted ways with them. He was succeeded as parish priest by the Reverend Ian Black in 1996.

Ministry in the Catholic Church
[Redacted] sent the relevant papers to the Holy See in September 1994, with the hopes of being ordained a Catholic priest. His application was met with an unexpectedly protracted delay, which his wife jokingly attributed to his past reputation as a "debater, campaigner, and general nuisance". The actual cause of delay proved to be his aforementioned unconventional baptismal certificate, which was written out by the nurse at birth rather than issued by a parish. Since it did not correspond to the standard form expected by the Vatican, this led them to process the other, more straightforward applications first. After receiving the green light, [redacted] studied briefly at St John's Seminary in Wonersh.

In 1996, he was appointed Catholic Chaplain of the University of Kent, a position that was vacant at the time and was last held by Fr. James McGillicuddy (who served from 1984–88). On 4 October of that same year, he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood by John Jukes, auxiliary bishop of Southwark with responsibility for the Kent pastoral area, who had known [redacted] over the past two decades. This took place at St. Thomas of Canterbury Church in Canterbury, Kent. Although they found themselves on opposite sides of the debate over women priests, Archbishop Carey gave [redacted] a "very kind and touching" letter sending best wishes and an assurance of prayers upon the latter's ordination.

[Redacted] proceeded to serve in that role for 22 years until his retirement in 2018. Over this period of time, the university's Catholic chaplaincy flourished, receiving over 130 converts and producing many vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. [Redacted] counselled Paula Yates after her partner, Michael Hutchence, committed suicide in 1997. He surmised that her depression caused by the loss "led to her [own] death" three years later. In October 2012, he was one of twelve clergymen appointed to the Archdiocese's College of Consultors by Peter Smith.

The Archdiocese of Southwark initially anticipated not replacing [redacted] and leaving the position of chaplain vacant due to a shortage of priests. In the end, he was succeeded by Fr. Tom Herbst in September 2018. However, the position of chaplain was downgraded to only part-time status.

Retirement
In spite of retiring, [Redacted] has remained active by filling in for pastors in their parishes, delivering talks, and leading pilgrimages to sites such as Lisieux and Rome, the latter for the canonisation of St. John Henry Newman – the leader of the Tractarian Movement – in October 2019. He has also helped out with the Apostleship of the Sea, serving as cruise chaplain aboard the MV Britannia throughout Easter 2019.

Personal life
[Redacted] is married to [W redacted], whom he met while studying KCL; she was captain of the college hockey team. He possesses a commercial pilot licence and is a member of the National Association of Priest Pilots.