CALGARY, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) — Calgary Bishop Emeritus Fred Henry, a faithful defender of the Catholic faith, has passed away at age 81.
On December 3, the Diocese of Calgary announced that Bishop Henry, the seventh bishop of the Diocese of Calgary, passed away at noon at Rockyview General Hospital.
“We entrust Bishop Henry to the Merciful Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary and implore the clergy and faithful of our diocese to pray for the repose of his soul,” the diocese wrote.
During his life, Bishop Henry worked tirelessly to defend his flock from the onslaught of attacks against their Catholic faith, including defending the true definition of marriage, condemning HPV vaccines, and defending the pro-life movement in Canada.
Jim Hughes, former president of Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), recalled the bishop as a “feisty guy,” adding that “he stood up for what he believed, and he was very forceful.”
“I can remember when he was in Kitchener, Ontario, at a press conference,” Hughes told LifeSiteNews, “and they said, ‘What’s going to happen in Calgary when they decide they’re going to bring in all this LGBT stuff into the Catholic schools?'”
“And he said, ‘I’ll tell them to go to hell,'” he recalled.
Hughes explained that Bishop Henry was “the type of bishop you would want as your bishop: somebody that stood up for the faith and no wishy-washiness to him at all.”
“I admired him greatly, especially when it comes to the residential schools and nonsense dealing with things of that nature, where he said, ‘Let’s investigate. Let’s not just use knee-jerk reactions to things. Let’s make sure that we do our homework,”‘ Hughes continued.
“And when it came to the pro-life issue, he was extremely strong,” he said, adding that while Bishop Henry did not approve of CLC’s use of abortion victim photography, he was a defender of the unborn.
“Rest in peace, Fred,” Hughes concluded. “You’ve done a great job, and I wish we had a whole heck of a lot more just like you.”
Similarly, CLC’s Jack Fonseca also praised Bishop Henry for his service as bishop, recalling his defence of marriage.
“When the Liberal governments of Jean Chretien and Paul Martin were moving legislation to abolish the true definition of marriage and family between 2004-2005, the only Catholic bishop in all of Canada who had the courage, and I dare say, holy faith, to speak out against this quasi-blasphemous assault on God’s image in creation was Bishop Fred Henry,” he noted.
“Every other bishop was too cowardly to defend God’s plan for marriage,” Foncesa continued. “Bishop Henry went all over the country trying to rally Catholics to defend this sacrament, so my local Defend Marriage group asked him if he could come to our city, and he agreed without any hesitation. It was a great honour to meet that holy man of God in person.”
Fonseca further added that Bishop Henry “suffered media attacks for speaking out against the redefinition of marriage.”
“Twice he was hauled before the Alberta Human Rights Commission after complaints were filed by homosexual activists opposed to his orthodox, Catholic teaching,” he explained. “He was even threatened by Revenue Canada for writing a pastoral letter in which he pointed out that the media’s description of Paul Martin as a ‘devout Catholic’ was inappropriate.”
“Unlike the vast majority of his episcopal brethren, he was a true shepherd, on fire for the Lord. May God grant him eternal peace,” Fonseca declared.