| His Excellency Most Rev. Frederick Henry |
|
|---|---|
| Bishop of Calgary | |
| See | Calgary |
| Enthroned | March 19, 1998 |
| Predecessor | Paul John O’Byrne |
| Successor | incumbent |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | May 25, 1968 |
| Consecration | June 24, 1986 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 11, 1943 London, Ontario |
Frederick Bernard Henry (born April 11, 1943) is the seventh and current Roman Catholic bishop of the diocese of Calgary, in the province of Alberta, Canada.
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Henry was ordained to the priesthood on May 25, 1968. He holds an M.A. in Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame and a licentiate in theology from Gregorian University in Rome. From 1973-1986 he served as associate professor of Theology and Philosophy at St. Peter's Seminary. In 1986 he was appointed auxiliary bishop of London and titular bishop of Carinola, Italy. In 1995 he was installed as the fifth bishop of Thunder Bay, Ontario, and on March 19, 1998 he was installed as the seventh bishop of Calgary.
Henry's staunch positions have made him a polarizing figure in the Calgary community. His support has come from devout Catholics who agree with his traditional faith based views on contemporary issues such as gay marriage. His behavior and command of the Calgary diocese has come with controversy. Two recent examples were the banning schools and students from using casinos to fund-raise (the traditionally most significant source of extra revenue) and suggesting that school boards in the Calgary Catholic School District ban the distribution of the HPV vaccine.
Successful in the political sphere, he is a noted critic of modern trends in government, whether these be the libertarian policies of the Alberta Progressive Conservatives (Provincial Government), or the tendency of certain Canadian federal politicians to overlook their Catholic identities at election time.
Henry has created controversy on several occasions in which he has argued that politicians who are also Catholics should act in accordance with Catholic principles and doctrine as a matter of religious duty. Henry normally calls to task nominally Catholic politicians who vote for abortion or same sex marriage. However, as is the case with many senior Catholic clergymen, he has notably failed to follow through on this numerous threats to deny these politicians Holy Communion. His failure in this regard has irritated} the many Catholic Tradionalists{{Citation needed} who believe that Henry has both the authority and a moral obligation to discipline all in his diocese who defy Church teachings and Papal directives on these issues.
On July 30, 2003, in an interview with the Globe and Mail, Henry stated that Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, a Roman Catholic, was risking his eternal salvation by supporting legislation in favour of same-sex marriage.
Henry also described comments by former Tory leader and fellow Catholic Joe Clark as "scandalous", after Clark described himself as pro-choice.