Saint John Henry Newman, Victoria, BC

06/12/2026

OBITUARY

The Reverend Monsignor Peter Donald Wilkinson died, surrounded by friends, on Saturday June 6th, the Eve of Corpus Christi, fortified by the Rites of Holy Mother Church, after a lifetime of service to the Church, in both Anglican and Roman Catholic ministries.

Peter was born in Victoria on April 13, 1940, the son of Donald and Mary Wilkinson, and was educated at the University of British Columbia (BA English Literature, History & Classics), with post-ordination study (BD Prelim) at the University of London, England under the tutelage of Dr Eric Mascall.

Peter trained for the Anglican ministry at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield, Yorkshire. Following ordination by Archbishop Michael Ramsey in Canterbury Cathedral in 1965, he served his curacy in the Diocese of Canterbury at St John the Evangelist, Upper Norwood, before returning to Mirfield as a novice of the Community of the Resurrection. Coming back to Canada in 1970, Peter served in the Diocese of British Columbia as a hospital chaplain and assistant at Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria.

In 1977 Peter was a participant in the Congress of Concerned Churchmen in St Louis, Missouri, which led him to found the first Continuing Anglican parish in Canada. He assisted in the formation of the Diocese of Canada and in 1985 was appointed Honorary Canon of the diocese. In 1999 Peter was elected Suffragan Bishop of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, within the Traditional Anglican Communion, becoming Bishop Ordinary in 2005, in succession to Bishop Robert Mercer CR.

In the years before the establishment of the Ordinariate, Peter was amongst the bishops of the Traditional Anglian Communion who petitioned for corporate unity with the Catholic Church. Having realised this goal, he was received into the Church and ordained priest in 2012, serving as St John Henry’s first Parochial Administrator until 2014. In October 2012 he was appointed Consultor to the Anglicanae Traditiones Commission by Archbishop Augustine Di Noia OP to supply texts for Divine Worship: The Missal and Divine Worship: Occasional Services. He served the commission for three years. In 2013 Peter was appointed Prelate of Honour by Pope Benedict XVI, with whom, as Cardinal Ratzinger, he had been in regular correspondence.

His body will be received into Our Lady, Queen of Peace Church, 849 Old Esquimalt Road, Victoria, on Sunday June 14th at 5:15 pm, and will be followed by a Vigil Service.

A Solemn Pontifical Requiem Funeral Mass will be offered at Our Lady, Queen of Peace Church, on Monday, June 15th at 1:00 pm.

Donations in his honour and to support the work he began in Victoria, the parish of St John Henry Newman, may be made to:

[email protected]

Condolences may be offered to the family at following link:

The Reverend Monsignor Peter Donald Wilkinson died, surrounded by friends, on Saturday June 6th, the Eve of Corpus Christi, fortified by the Rites of Holy Mother Church, after a lifetime of service to the Church, in both Anglican and Roman Catholic ministries. Peter was born in Victoria on April 13,...

06/11/2026

FUNDRAISER CAR WASH
849 Old Esquimalt Road (at Queen of Peace Church)

Following Benediction, around 11:45 am, on Saturday 13th June, we will be holding a fundraiser for Arcātheos, and to help cover travel costs for those from our parish attending.

https://arcatheos.com/

Hosted by the Altar Servers’ Guild, we will gather outside the front of the church for a barbecue, whilst in the parking lot round the back, cars will be washed and scrubbed clean.

Please bring an empty stomach and a dirty car for ultimate satisfaction! $3 per hot dog, $5 per hamburger (drinks are free!), and $10 per car.

06/10/2026

Corpus Christi Procession 2026
Photographs courtesy of David D.

The most sacred Body of our Lord Jesus Christ was carried through the community of Esquimalt on a fair afternoon, accompanied by hymns. Rose petals were scattered by parish maidens organized by Elizabeth K.

The procession concluded with Solemn Benediction and a superb potluck dinner.

Ave verum corpus, natum de Maria Virgine, vere passum, immolatum in cruce pro homine cuius latus perforatum fluxit aqua et sanguine: esto nobis prægustatum in mortis examine.

O Iesu dulcis, O Iesu pie, O Iesu, fili Mariae. Miserere mei. Amen.

06/08/2026

Rest in Peace, Monsignor Peter Wilkinson, priest of the Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter.

Born in Victoria, British Columbia, on April 13, 1940, Peter R. Wilkinson was baptized in the Anglican Church of Canada. He felt the call to ecclesial service at a young age and, after university studies in British Columbia, left Canada for theological studies in England. Peter enrolled in seminary at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield, West Yorkshire. Entering the Community of the Resurrection at Mirfield, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Anglican Church of Canada in 1965 at Canterbury Cathedral in England. Returning to Canada in 1970, Father Peter served as hospital chaplain and curate at Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria. In 1977, after the Anglican Church of Canada attempted to ordain women to the priesthood, Father Peter joined the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada, part of the Traditional Anglican Communion. He became pastor of the ACCC’s first parish and ministered there for 14 years. In 1999, he was elected suffragan Bishop of the ACCC for Western Canada, and in 2005 succeeded Bishop Robert Mercer to become Bishop Ordinary and later would oversee the ACCC as Metropolitan Bishop.

Throughout his life and ministry, Father Peter embraced an ascetical life of prayer, intellectual study, and ministry. His theological formation nurtured a persistent desire for the fullness of Catholic communion for which he worked throughout his priesthood. Steeped in the theological works of Newman and the other proponents of the Oxford Movement, he undertook an exhaustive study of the writings of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and even became a regular correspondent with the Cardinal. In the years just prior to the publication of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, Father Peter was among the bishops of the TAC who petitioned Rome for corporate unity with the Catholic Church. The establishment of the Ordinariate was very much an answer to prayer and a fruit of Father Peter’s faithful ministry. He was among the first to enter full communion and was ordained a Catholic priest in 2012.

In the early days of the Ordinariate, Father Peter took an active role in the formation of clergy and the regulation of Ordinariate liturgical life. He served for three years as a consultant to the Holy See’s Anglicanae traditiones Commission tasked with elaborating the liturgical texts for the Ordinariate. He was a prolific worker, and produced hundreds of texts and commentaries that greatly assisted the work of the Commission. All the while, he continued a robust priestly life of pastoral availability, both in the Ordinariate and in the Diocese of Victoria. In 2013, Pope Benedict XVI made Father Peter a Prelate of Honor, conferring upon him the title Monsignor. In 2016, he received the welcome news that the Ordinariate would be led by its first bishop, and Monsignor Peter traveled to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston to serve as priest-chaplain to Bishop Steven Lopes for the latter’s ordination as Ordinariate Bishop.

Monsignor Peter Wilkinson entered eternal life on June 6 after a long illness that dulled his mental acuity, but never his faith or the warmth of his personality.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord. And may the Perpetual Light shine upon him.

06/07/2026

The Revd Mgr Peter Wilkinson PH, 1940-2026 RIP

Thank you to all of you who have offered prayers for Monsignor Wilkinson.

Father Kenyon writes:

Monsignor Peter Wilkinson, our Parochial Vicar, died at 8 pm this evening, the Eve of Corpus Christi, fortified by the Rites of Holy Mother Church. Of your charity, please pray for the eternal repose of his soul.

Mgr Wilkinson was the founder of our parish community, the one who gave it the name St John Henry Newman. After a lifetime of serving the Church, in Anglican and Catholic priestly ministry, he served as our first parish priest from 2012-2014. He was instrumental in laying the foundations for the Ordinariate here in Canada and assisting with the formation of our liturgical rites. A man of deep faith, devotion, humour, wit, love and generosity, he will be sorely missed by all.

Details of Mgr Peter’s funeral rites will be forthcoming. Jesu, mercy. Mary, pray.

O God, who didst cause thy servant Peter, for whom we pray, to enjoy the office of Priest after the order of thine Apostles: grant unto him, we beseech thee; finally to rejoice in the company of those thy Saints in heaven whose ministry he did sometime share on earth; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

06/07/2026

Camino Confirmed - Santiago de Compostela!

06/06/2026

From Father Kenyon regarding Monsignor Wilkinson.

Your prayers are requested at this time for our Parochial Vicar, Monsignor Peter Wilkinson, the founder and first parish priest of our parish. He has been in hospital since a fall at home in September 2025, and was later diagnosed with Lewey body dementia. In addition to keeping him in our regular parish prayers, several parishioners have been very faithful in visiting him, and he has been receiving the Blessed Sacraments several times a week.

Yesterday, following a difficult breathing episode, his condition deteriorated and he was unresponsive for much of the day. He has now been moved into a more private room, where I administered the Last Rites and gave the Apostolic Pardon. This was as a precaution, because we simply do not know how things will turn out. Noella Birch, Fr Michael’s widow, is staying with Mgr Peter.

Please do enfold him in your prayers and ask, in particular, for the intercession of Our Lady of Walsingham, to whom Mgr Peter has a great devotion, that God’s will be done in all things.

In Christ and Our Lady,
Fr Kenyon

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God of all grace and power: behold, visit, and relieve this thy servant Peter; look upon him with the eyes of thy mercy; give him comfort and sure confidence in thee, defend him in all danger, and keep him in perpetual peace and safety; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Lady of Walsingham! Plead with thy Son for our parish, its priests and people. Guard us beneath thy protecting veil from sin and sorrow; be our shield against pride and envy, and all the snares of the devil; and teach us, loving thee, to love the Lord Jesus and all souls for his sake. Amen.

06/06/2026

REQUEST FOR PRAYERS

In your mercy, please keep our beloved Monsignor Peter Wilkinson in your prayers.

Father Kenyon writes, "He’s had the Last Rites as a precaution since the doctors simply don’t know what’s in store. He had a bad attack this morning (June 4) and aspirated. He’s been unresponsive since then."

Monsignor has been in extended care for several months.

sjhn.ordinariate.ca/about-us.html scroll down for Monsignor's bio