An Alternate Short Summary of an Integral Life
Patrick Jamieson, Victoria
Volume 37 Issue 1, 2 & 3 | Posted: April 5, 2022
Roman Catholic Bishop of Victoria, 1962 – 1999, born at Swan Lake MB, February 24, 1924, died at Victoria BC, February 1, 2022.
Bishop De Roo was unique in the Canadian Catholic Church, as much a social leader as a church leader due to his vital progressive stance both in the church and in Canadian society. Appointed at the precise moment of the Second Vatican Council in 1962, which proved the major religious event of the 20th century with its massive changes to the 2000 year old institution, De Roo could be said to be the leading exponent in Canada for its prophetic shifts.
A quiet spoken man, his actions and words had a major effect beyond his humble origins and small Catholic diocese on Vancouver Island. In the 1960s he pushed for internal reform within the church in the way of the birth control controversy, in the 1970s he moved into the areas of ecumenism and social action, in the 1980s he was the spearhead of a radical critique of the inadequacies of Canadian capitalism, in the 1990s until retirement he formed his diocese into a synodal church, a people’s church on a grassroots model now being established by Pope Francis for the global Roman Catholic Church.
Upon retirement at the mandatory age of 75 in 1999, aspersions were cast upon his administrative abilities and financial management of the diocese which proved to be fallacious but his reputation suffered. Much of this was transparently due to both church and partisan politics. A 2005 court decision out of Lacey Washington vindicated Bishop De Roo’s financial management record by awarding a 12 million dollar judgement against his successor for breach of fiduciary responsibility to his business partner Joseph C. Finley. He weathered the controversy admirably, living another 23 years of active ministry worldwide. His integral spiritual strength endured.
De Roo will probably be best remembered as a prophetic figure defending the rights of the poor and striving for church reform.
Patrick Jamieson, Victoria