Rev. Bart van Roijen, a priest of the Diocese of Nelson, B.C., has ben appinted the new bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Corner Brook and Labrador.
The diocese announced the appointment, which was made by Pope Francis, in a news release issued Monday morning.
Bishop-elect van Roijen was born in Diemen, The Netherlands, on Aug. 4, 1965. With his family, he immigrated to Canada in the Spring of 1973.
He received a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy from St. Thomas More College at the University of Saskatechewan in 1986 and a master's degree in divinity from St. Peter’s Seminary in London in 1989.
He took teacher training at the University of Calgary from 1990 to 1992 and was the diocesan director of religious education for the Diocese of Gravelbourg from 1992 to 1995.
He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Nelson April 25, 1997 and has served in pastoral ministry in a number of the parishes of that diocese. Presently, he is the pastor of St Charles Garnier Parish in Kelowna, B.C. and is the director of the Permanent Diaconate Program, the diocesan vocation director and the vicar general of that diocese.
His episcopal ordination and installation as bishop of Corner Brook and Labrador will be celebrated at the Cathedral of the Most Holy Redeemer and of the Immaculate Conception in Corner Brook on Dec. 12.
