Bishop William McGrattan won’t pretend to be as “very bold” as his predecessor, but hopes to be just as steadfast as Bishop Fred Henry as he assumes leadership of Calgary’s diocese.

Calgary Bishop Fred Henry said he knew it was time to retire when his pain became constant and his posture became stooped to the point that “my feet are much more familiar to me than the sky.”

OTTAWA — Calgary Bishop-elect William Terrence McGrattan shares a special bond with retiring Bishop Fred Henry, whom he will replace when he is installed as Calgary’s new shepherd Feb. 27.

OTTAWA – Years of suffering from “severe chronic pain” have forced one of Canada’s most outspoken bishops to relinquish his ministry.

Calgary Bishop Fred Henry has warned Catholics in his diocese not to attend a church purchased by the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX).

CALGARY - Inglewood is an old neighbourhood in Calgary, the sort of place where you find a church nestled between modest homes, rather than surrounded by a vast suburban parking lot. But something new is happening here, or something old becoming something new — or perhaps even something new becoming something old.

The parish of St. John the Evangelist used to be an Anglican parish, but just a week before Christmas the pastor, Fr. Lee Kenyon, his wife Elizabeth, and almost the entire congregation of about 75 souls were received into full communion with the Catholic Church. Bishop Frederick Henry of Calgary received the group and graciously welcomed into his diocese a new parish. They call themselves an “Anglican Use” oparish, meaning that while fully Catholic and in communion with the bishop of Rome, they use a form of the liturgy more in keeping with their Anglican traditions.