A new Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop will be ordained early next month. He is Father Christopher Glancy; originally from Illinois, U.S.A. Father Glancy moved to Belize in 1998 and has done significant work with the Catholic Mission in Corozal. His appointment was announced by the Vatican in February while he was away in Chicago. But the Bishop-elect is now back in Belize and News Five caught up with him at the Roman Catholic Diocese today. Father Glancy says the news of his appointment came as a surprise, but he calls it a wonderful challenge.

Fr. Christopher Glancy, Roman Catholic Bishop-Elect

“I was surprised. I had worked for twelve years in Corozal and I certainly enjoyed my time there but I had just moved back to Chicago. I had been in Chicago just since last July and was enjoying being there; I have two brothers who live in the Chicago area, my mother lives about two hours from there. So it was nice to be close to home and then I get a call to come back to Belize. But I love the church so much here that I had to say yes.”

Delahnie Bain

“Alright, can you tell us a bit about the work you were doing in Corozal?”

Fr. Christopher Glancy

“It was four years as associate pastor and then eight years as the pastor of the catholic mission in Corozal, the St. Francis Xavier Parish. Up there we have the main parish and twenty-three village missions. There are nineteen catholic schools and we started a catholic high school while I was there in Chunox. It’s the Chunox St. Viator Vocational High School with agriculture and tourism as the two vocational areas we put as emphasis there. Also as a pastor, attending to the churches, helping to build up the lay leaders, working with the teachers in the school; lots of different things.”

Delahnie Bain

“And do you feel that you will be able to do more for the church in Belize as bishop?”

Fr. Christopher Glancy

“Well I hope so. I always believe in building from what is there already. So to me there are some wonderful things happening already with the pastoral commissions, working with liturgy, youth ministry, working with social concerns, working with adult faith formation and leadership or formation of lay leaders as well as the education commission. So there are some great things happening already and a lot of work to be done and I think I can work with those groups quite well.”

The Episcopal Ordination of Bishop-elect Glancy will be held on May fifth at St. John’s College. He will be stationed in Belize City along with Bishop Dorrick Wright, at least for the first instance and among his immediate tasks will be a tour of the Catholic Parishes countrywide. He also plans to maintain his ties with the Corozal Catholic mission.

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