Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

TORONTO - The Most Reverend Terence Finlay, bishop of Canada's largest Anglican diocese, announced last night that he will retire on June 11.

Archbishop Terence Finlay, 66, said he is stepping down as bishop of the Diocese of Toronto to enjoy his retirement years and spend more time with his family. "I feel it is time for the diocese to have fresh leadership and I'll be handing it over with many good things in place," he said.

An election will be held in Toronto in June to choose his successor. Archbishop Finlay has been a bishop for 18 years, 16 of those as Bishop of Toronto and four as Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of Ontario.

"As Canada's largest urban diocese, we are called on to address many major challenges," he said. "We have tried to equip clergy and lay people to face the realities of life and respond effectively by building communities of compassion and restorative and distributive justice. We have been greatly blessed and we work to be accountable in using the gifts given to us by God for the mission of the wider Church. We have promoted an appreciation of all that we receive through the diversity that enriches our cosmopolitan diocese. We have encouraged personal lives of prayer and spiritual depth grounded in the teachings and the way of Jesus Christ."

The Diocese of Toronto, which includes the greater Toronto area, has 217 parishes covering 10,000 square miles. There are 83,834 Anglicans on parish rolls and 376,000 identify themselves as Anglican, according to the 2001 census.