October 18, 2007
For Immediate Release

Archbishop Named for Halifax

On behalf of Atlantic School of Theology, The Rev. Canon Eric Beresford, President, extends prayerful best wishes to The Most Rev. Anthony Mancini who was today appointed as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Halifax and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Yarmouth.

Archbishop-designate Mancini, born in Italy in 1945, arrived in Canada with his parents in 1948. For The Most Rev. Claude Champagne, Auxiliary Bishop of Halifax, his multi cultural background represents one of the great graces he will bring to the region, saying, “Bishop Mancini comes to us from a multicultural context and speaks Italian, English and French, so he will be very sensitive to the cultural and linguistic reality of the Acadians of Halifax and the southwest.”

Particularly exciting for Atlantic School of Theology is that fact that in addition to his prodigious academic accomplishments, holding, as he does, a Masters Degree in Religious Studies from McGill University and a Ph.D. in pastoral theology from l’Université de Montréal, he has also studied ecumenical theology at the University of Geneva in Switzerland.

In his first statement following the appointment, Bishop Mancini said, “I am looking forward to meeting the People of God in the Archdiocese of Halifax. I am very pleased that the Holy Father has appointed me as your Archbishop, and I am humbled by his confidence in me.”

President Beresford says, “AST, as an ecumenical university in the service of Christ’s mission, is looking forward to welcoming Bishop Mancini and to maintaining and extending our relationship with, and service to, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Halifax under the episcopacy of The Most Rev. Mancini.”

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For further information, contact:
Katharine Berrington
Public Relations & Development Officer
Atlantic School of Theology
(902) 496-7943