Very Reverend Monsignor Murray J. Kroetsch, VG

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.