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Archbishop Thomas Collins: A Distinguished Graduate by Harry Frokiaqe It is entirely possibly that last summer, at the same moment as the St. Jerome's Graduates' Association was choosing its distinguished graduate for 2006, Pope Benedict XVI was contemplating whom he should select as the next Archbishop of Toronto. Both deliberative processes arrived at the same name: Thomas Collins. Collins was, at that moment, the Archbishop of Edmonton, a position he had held since 1999. Prior to that, he had been Bishop of St. Paul's in northern Alberta, an appointment he received in 1997 after serving for nineteen years at St. Peter's Seminary in London, Ontario. In a career filled with academic accomplishments--a Bachelor of Theology, an M.A. in English, a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture, a Doctorate in Theology--the first degree he received was a B.A. in English from St. Jerome's College in 1968. Collins was born in Guelph in 1947. Among his childhood friends was Gerry Stortz--until his death in 2003 a professor of history at SJU. While attending Bishop Macdonell Catholic High School, Collins was powerfully influenced by Fr. John Newstead, a joyful and charismatic mentor who sparked his interest in both English literature and the priesthood. Collins wanted to enter the seminary, but remembers that "my father was ill so I was needed at home. I thought it would be great to attend a Catholic, liberal arts college and St. Jerome's was fairly close at hand." He enrolled and, for the first three years, drove to the still-new campus every day. "In my last year, I lived in the residence at St. Jerome's. That was a new experience, the first time I'd really been away from home and it was a great thing too." He majored in English, and was among the many students in the 1960s who were influenced by Dr. Larry Cummings: "His Old English course was spectacular. I really loved Old English, Middle English, Shakespeare--it was great." But he was also careful to take the philosophy credits he would need to study theology. Upon entering St. Peter's Seminary, he concurrently pursued postgraduate studies in English, finding that there was "a great synergy" between the spirituality of such Old English poems as "The Dream of the Rood" and his studies in spiritual theology. Following his ordination in 1973, he taught for two years at Cathedral High School in Hamilton before pursuing advanced studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute and returning to St. Peter's as a lecturer in Scripture. In 1984, he returned to Rome to the Gregorian University for doctoral studies, writing a dissertation which focussed upon the moral teaching and exhortation contained in the final sixteen lines of the Apocalypse of John. In 1992, he was appointed Dean of Theology at St. Peter's, and became Rector in 1995. In 1997, he received a call from the Papal Nuncio inviting him to Ottawa for lunch the next day. "He told me the Pope had made me Bishop of St. Paul, Alberta." He moved west following his Episcopal ordination by Bishop Anthony Tonnos of the Diocese of Hamilton; two years later, he was appointed Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Edmonton. And now, after a similar call, Collins is returning east to assume responsibility for the Archdiocese of Toronto the largest English-speaking diocese in Canada--upon the retirement of Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic in December. Collins' installation as Archbishop takes place on January 30th, 2007. Less than three weeks later, on February 16th, Archbishop Collins returns to St. Jerome's as the recipient of the 2006 Fr. Norm Choate Distinguished Graduate Award. He will also deliver the Graduates' Association Lecture in Siegfried Hall at 7:30 p.m., examining the topic that preoccupied him during his doctoral studies: The Apocalypse of John: A Great Book of Hope. "I love the Apocalyse," he says. "It's meant to be a revelation, not a confusion. It's not written to predict who's going to win this or that election or what's going to happen in our age in terms of politics. It has to do with the plan of God. It's meant to help people live a better life." t, 3