(CCCB ? Ottawa)... His Holiness Pope Francis today named the Most Reverend Gary Gordon as Bishop of Victoria. At the time of his appointment, he was Bishop of Whitehorse, Yukon. Bishop Gordon succeeds the Most Reverend Richard Gagnon who was appointed Archbishop of Winnipeg on October 28, 2013. Archbishop Gagnon served as Apostolic Administrator of Victoria until he was installed as Archbishop of Winnipeg on January 3, 2014. Since then, the Reverend John Laszczyk has been Diocesan Administrator of Victoria.
Born on June 10, 1957, in Burnaby, B.C., Bishop Gordon studied at the Seminary of Christ the King, Mission, B.C.; at St. Jerome College, University of Waterloo, Ontario; and at St. Peter's Seminary, London, Ontario. Ordained to the priesthood on May 22, 1982, for the Archdiocese of Vancouver, he was named Bishop of Whitehorse on January 5, 2006. Prior to his appointment as Bishop in 2006, Bishop Gordon had served several parishes throughout British Columbia, including Vancouver, Chilliwack and Mission. He also served as the Pacific regional representative of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) with the Interfaith Committee on Chaplaincy of the Correctional Service of Canada (1994-2006), and was the CCCB principal liaison and spokesperson on the Interfaith Committee (2002-2006).
Since 2007, Bishop Gordon has been the CCCB Bishop ponens for Catholics involved in prison chaplaincy and pastoral services. In addition, he has been Chairman of the CCCB Standing Committee for Relations with Movements and Associations since 2011, after previously serving on the former Episcopal Commission for Relations with Associations of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Laity (2007-2008). He has been a member of the Anglican/Roman Catholic Bishops' Dialogue since 2007, and has served as its Co-Chairman since 2009.
According to the CCCB 2014 Directory, the Diocese of Victoria has 41 parishes and missions, with a Catholic population of 94,465, served by 22 diocesan priests, 17 priests who are members of religious communities, two Brothers and 61 Sisters who are also members of religious communities.