Packed Toronto Cathedral Mourns Cardinal Ambrozic

The cardinal died Aug. 26 at age 81.

In the funeral homily, Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto remembered the cardinal's life. He was a native of Slovenia who fled with his family in 1945 to Austria, where they lived in refugee camps.

In September 1948, the family emigrated to Canada and settled near Toronto. Shortly afterward, Aloysius entered the seminary and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Toronto on June 4, 1955.

In 1976, he was named auxiliary bishop of Toronto, becoming the coadjutor of the archdiocese a decade later. In 1990, he became the archbishop and in 1998, was made a cardinal. He retired in 2006.

"The cardinal received many honors during his life, and played an important role in the universal Church as a cardinal, most notably in his participation in the conclave that elected Pope Benedict," Archbishop Collins reflected. "In 2002 he welcomed the world to Toronto at World Youth Day. 

"But the vision of hope that he lived and proclaimed was expressed more quietly and more profoundly through a life of daily fidelity to his mission as disciple, pastor and apostle. He once wrote of what he expected in a priest: 'I look for a simple readiness to sacrifice, a simple readiness to give of oneself.'"