Episcopal Board
The Most Reverend Douglas Crosby, OMI, Ninth Bishop of the Diocese of Hamilton, was born in Marathon, Ontario, to David and Natalie Crosby, on June 28, 1949, the first of seven children.
Bishop Crosby was ordained a priest with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1975, and served as Associate Pastor, Pastor, Vocation Director, and Provincial Superior of the Order. He also served as General Secretary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). He was ordained Bishop in 1998 and first served as Bishop of Labrador City-Schefferville.
In 2003, Bishop Crosby was appointed Bishop of St. George’s (Newfoundland and Labrdaor) while continuing to serve as Bishop of Labrador City-Schefferville. Following a realignment of diocesan boundaries, he was appointed first Bishop of Corner Brook and Labrador on September 9, 2007.
Bishop Crosby was appointed Bishop of Hamilton on September 24, 2010, and took possession of the See on November 8, 2010, at a ceremony at the Cathedral of Christ the King.
Bishop Crosby has served the CCCB as Chair of the English-Sector Liturgy Commission, and represented the Conference for nine years as a member of the International Commission of English in the Liturgy (ICEL). He was also a member of the CCCB Permanent Council, serving as Co-Treasurer, Vice-President, and President.
Bishop Crosby currently serves the CCCB as Chair of the Commission for Evangelization and Catechesis, and as a member of the Standing Committee for Family and Life. He serves the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario (ACBO) as Chair of the Social Affairs Commission.
On June 1, 2022, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Crosby a member of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, led by its Prefect, Arthur Cardinal Roche.
Bishop Wayne Lawrence Lobsinger, Auxiliary Bishop of Hamilton and Titular Bishop of Gemellae in Numidia, was born in Kitchener, Ontario on December 1, 1966, the first child of Larry and Eileen Lobsinger.
Bishop Lobsinger was ordained for the Diocese of Hamilton to the Priesthood, along with seven other men, on May 7, 1994. After ordination, he served in 4 Parishes as Associate Pastor and 4 Parishes as Pastor.
He has fulfilled several roles in the Diocese: Spiritual Director for the Legion of Mary for 24 years, Master of Ceremonies for Bishop Ustrzycki for nine years, Member of the Priest’s Personnel Board for six years, Chair of the Presbyteral Council for six years, Member of the College of Consultors for ten years, Vicar for Consecrated Life for seven years and part-time Spiritual Director at St. Peter Seminary, London, for five years.
On November 21, 2020, Memorial of the Presentation of Mary, he was named Bishop by Pope Francis. He was originally scheduled to be ordained on February 2, 2021, Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, however due to the pandemic his Episcopal Ordination was rescheduled and was celebrated on April 18, 2021 at the Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King in Hamilton.
As part of his new ministry, Bishop Lobsinger has been assigned Vicar for Consecrated Life, one of the Vicars General, Vicar of Formation, and Vicar for Permanent Deacons.
Msgr. Murray Kroetsch was born in Kitchener in 1952 and was educated at St. John’s Elementary School and St. Jerome’s High School. He began his seminary formation at Resurrection College and the University of St. Jerome’s in Waterloo and completed his theological studies at St. Peter’s Seminary in London, Ontario. He was ordained a priest for service in the Diocese of Hamilton in 1978.
After ordination he served in many parishes as an assistant, and was a high school chaplain for two years. From 1981 to 2012 Msgr. Kroetsch was the Director of the Liturgy Office for the Diocese of Hamilton. After completing post-graduate studies in liturgy at Notre Dame University in Indiana in 1985, he served as the Director of the National Liturgical Office for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (1986-1990). From 1990 to 2002 he was pastor of St. Dominic Parish in Oakville. From 2002-2003 he studied ecclesiology at The Lateran University in Rome, and from 2003 until 2011 he was pastor of St. Pius X Parish, Brantford and from 2011 to 2013 was pastor of Holy Rosary Parish, Burlington. Since 2022, he has been pastor of St. Joseph Parish, Hamilton. He serves as Chancellor and one of the Vicars General for the Diocese of Hamilton.
In addition to his diocesan and parochial duties, Msgr. Kroetsch is actively engaged across Canada as an instructor and workshop leader in the area of liturgy and sacraments. From 1987 to 2015 he has taught annually in the Summer Institute in Pastoral Liturgy at the University of St. Paul in Ottawa. He has served on many advisory and consultative bodies for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. He was chair of the National Council for Liturgy (1996-2001) and chair of the National Council for Liturgical Music (2005-2015). He is presently a consultant to the National Hymnal Committee and a Liturgical consultant for the new Catechetical Resource being published for the Ontario Bishops by Pearson.
Msgr. Cornelius (Con) O’Mahony grew up in County Cork, Ireland and immigrated to Canada in 1982 as a newly ordained priest. He has served in parishes in Georgetown, Hamilton, Oakville and Kitchener before his appointment to St. Michael’s Parish, Waterloo in 2008. In November 2010, he was appointed Vicar for Education for the Diocese of Hamilton by Bishop Douglas Crosby.
Con completed his studies for the priesthood at St. Patrick’s College Carlow, Ireland and while completing his Masters in Theology, had the opportunity to study with some of the major figures in Catholic education after the Second Vatican Council. He has taught courses in Religious Education at St. Michael’s College, Brock University and for twenty five years, with the OECTA Religious Education formation program for teachers in many parts of Ontario.
He has served on the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops Commission on Religious Education and was a resource person for the Born in the Spirit Series of Catechetical Resources that are used in Catholic Schools and parishes throughout Canada. In September 2007 he participated in a research and study project on faith formation for teachers with participants from New Zealand, England, Australia and Canada at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia.
Con has written extensively on faith and culture and is an editorial advisor and regular book reviewer for Celebrate, a Canadian magazine for persons involved in liturgy and pastoral ministry. His essay ‘The Parish in a Culture of Change’ won awards in Canada and the United States in the spring of 2010. He is the co-author of ‘Life is Changed Not Ended’ which was published by Novalis in Canada in 2005. He is a member of the Board of Governors for St. Jerome’s University.
In his spare time, Con likes to travel and has journeyed across the Himalayas from Lhasa in Tibet to Kathmandu Nepal and down the Mekong River through Laos and Cambodia in South East Asia. He is an avid reader, likes to cook and is interested in new music and theatre.
Very Reverend David Walter was born in 1977, growing up in the village of Chepstow in Bruce County. He was educated at Mary Immaculate Elementary School in Chepstow, and Sacred Heart High School in Walkerton. He graduated in 1999 from the University of Guelph with a Bachelor of Arts Degree, majoring in Economics. He subsequently worked in Client Services for an investment firm, and then as a Purchasing Manager for a manufacturing company before entering seminary formation. He entered St. Augustine’s Seminary in Toronto in 2008 where he studied philosophy and theology, graduating from the Master of Divinity program in 2014. Fr. Walter was ordained a priest by Bishop Douglas Crosby at the Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King in Hamilton in May of 2014.
Reverend Walter has served as Associate Pastor of St. Matthew’s Parish in Oakville, Pastor of St. Michael’s Parish in Waterloo where he also served as Chaplain of the St. John Paul II Student Centre, and is currently serving as Pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Georgetown.
Other roles in which Reverend Walter has served in the Diocese include: the Priest Seminar Committee; the Vocations Committee; Dean of Halton; and as the Assistant-Secretary of the Cura Pastorum Association.
His Excellency, Bishop Crosby, appointed Very Reverend Valentine Onwunjiogu, EV as the Episcopal Vicar for International Priests on November 1st, 2024.