One of the first things that struck me when Thomas Cardinal Collins became Archbishop of Toronto in 2007 was his choice of residence. Gerald Emmett Cardinal Carter lived in a mansion in leafy Rosedale, a well-known "old-money" 19th-century neighbourhood in Toronto. Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic opted for a condominium. Neither had chosen to live in the Bishop's Palace, the oldest building in Toronto still in continuous use for its original purpose. Now, it is not much of a "palace," but that is what it is called. It is a beautiful 19th-century Gothic mansion built alongside and attached to the 1848 Cathedral Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel. The more subdued third-storey is a later addition.
To his credit, not only did Collins decide immediately to live there, but he eventually undertook a dignified restoration of the Cathedral and the Bishop's Palace and Rectory. That rectory did not just house His Eminence but also the Cathedral Rector and Associates (I miss the term, curate), and priests who work in the Chancery or hospital chaplaincy. It was a literal priestly community. There were even some nights of the week when the dinner was communal with the Cardinal present. (No comment from me about the stories I've heard.)
Toronto Catholics may be interested in knowing that we have returned to the regal cardinalate of a Prince of the Church.
Once a year, for the Christmas Carol concert before Midnight Mass, Emmett Carter would process in and then preside from the throne wearing the cappa magna. He thought his congregation should see him in full princely regalia, but Cardinal Collins saw it differently. In 2015, I was the Director of Music and one of the two main organizers of a “Mass in the Presence of a Greater Prelate” on the Vigil of Pentecost, honouring Toronto Monsignor Vincent Foy for 75 years of priesthood. Collins presided over the Mass in the usus antiquior, or Vetus Ordo, from the throne, assisted by four deacons, with all the traditional pomp, the debut of the new Metropolitan Cross, and plenty of “smells and bells.” The only thing we didn’t push on him was the cappa, knowing well by then the treatment a few years earlier of poor Bishop Slattery, even by other bishops at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., for donning it at a pontifical mass.
Curiously, the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Toronto, Frank Leo (that's Frank Leo the Cardinal, not Frank Leo, local real estate magnate), has decided against residing in the place intended for him, opting instead for a grand and stylish mansion in Lawrence Park—at the former home no less, owned by the Chief Financial Officer of the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation for the Archdiocese of Toronto. Gosh, how much were they paying him? But good on him, eh? It is rumoured to have been valued at over $7,000,000, or maybe there was a discount from the employee, and not counting whatever lavish renovations followed by a certain amateur architect priest now forced to retire over it. One can’t help but imagine the new Prince of the Church, Frank Leo, sweeping through his opulent halls in a great cape perfectly befitting his majestic new abode. It would just not fit in with the prostitutes, crack-heads, sidewalk defecating homeless, noise, smells and gay-village aspects of Church Street. I mean, what of the "smell of the sheep" or going out to the "peripheries?" Where is the "accompaniment?"
Naturally, Toronto Catholics wouldn’t dream of begrudging our spiritual leader the privilege of living among the well-heeled in places like Rosedale or Lawrence Park —past and present—like John Tory or world-famous architect Eric Arthur, Group of Seven artist A.J. Casson (I even have a signed print), astronaut Roberta Bondar, athletes like Gary Roberts, and more; enjoying the lap of luxury—at the expense of those in the pews—would we?
Oh, and inquiring minds wish to know: did Frank Leo handle the real estate transaction for Frank Leo?
