Frederick Henry (bishop)

His Excellency

Most Rev. Bishop Frederick Henry
Bishop of Calgary
See Calgary
Installed 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.

Biography

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.

Views

Catholic politicians

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.

Same-sex marriage and abortion

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.

"He's putting at risk his eternal salvation. I pray for the Prime Minister because I think his eternal salvation is in jeopardy. He is making a morally grave error and he's not being accountable to God... He doesn't understand what it means to be a good Catholic."

Henry also described comments by former Tory leader and fellow Catholic Joe Clark as "scandalous", after Clark described himself as pro-choice.

HPV vaccine and promiscuity

Henry does not allow public health officials to vaccinate students in Catholic schools against a common and widespread virus called the human papilloma virus, or HPV. He believes that the HPV vaccine is a partial prophylaxis which is utilized instead of, rather than with, the development of self-discipline and virtue.

A Study (the largest on association between HPV vaccination and indicators of sexual behavior) funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, with support from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences found strong evidence that HPV vaccination does not have any significant effect on clinical indicators of sexual behaviour among adolescent girls. Confirmation of another study done in 2012 with 1400 girls. Frederick has yet to release any study to back his belief.

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