Episcopal Resignation and Appointment for the Diocese of Hamilton
OTTAWA, 1 November 2025 – Today, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of the Most Reverend Douglas Crosby, O.M.I. as Bishop of Hamilton, and appointed the Most Reverend Joseph Dabrowski, C.S.M.A., presently Bishop of Charlottetown, as his successor. He is the tenth Bishop of Hamilton.
Bishop Joseph Dabrowski was born in 1964, the second of five children. The son of Czesława and Ludwik, he grew up in Wysoka Strzyżowska, a small village in the south of Poland.
After graduating from a high school run by the Michaelites (Congregation of Saint Michael the Archangel), he entered the Michaelites. Upon completion of the novitiate, he made his first profession of vows in 1982. After a year of internship in Poland, he was selected to study in Italy at the Institute of Philosophy and Theology of Saint Peter in Viterbo. He graduated from the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm in Rome, obtaining a Master of Divinity degree.
He was ordained to the priesthood on 4 May 1991 at the Pontifical Sanctuary of Santa Maria ad Rupes, Italy. Four days later, he was assigned to join the Michaelite community in London, Ontario.
He served as Associate Pastor in many parishes of the Diocese of London: Our Lady of Czestochowa from 1992-1993; St. Michael’s in Leamington from 1993-1996; St. Pius X (now Holy Family) from 1996-1997; and St. Mary’s from 1997-1998.
In 1998, he was named Pastor of St. Mary’s Parish, where he served until Pope Francis appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of London. His episcopal ordination took place on 14 April 2015 at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in London. The Most Reverend Ronald Peter Fabbro, C.S.B., Bishop of London, presided.
At the Diocesan level, Bishop Dabrowski has served on the Council of Priests, the Ministry to Priests Team, the advisory board for St. Peter’s Cemetery, and the Ethnic Communities Committee, as well as acting as Spiritual Director for St. Peter’s Seminary.
On 2 April 2023, Bishop Dabrowski was appointed Bishop of Charlottetown. His installation took place at St. Dunstan’s Cathedral on 29 June 2023.
As a member of the Michaelites, he served as Vice Superior, Vice Provincial, and Provincial of the North American Vice Province.
As a member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Dabrowski was appointed as the Catholic Co-Chair to the Roman Catholic—Evangelical Church Dialogue, and as a member of the Episcopal Commission for Evangelization and Catechesis. Since 2023, he has been a member of the CCCB’s Standing Committee for Family and Life.
While serving as the Bishop of Charlottetown, he was a member of the Atlantic Episcopal Assembly. Previously, as a member of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario, he was appointed to serve on the Social Affairs Commission, as well as Bishop Liaison to the Ontario Association of Parents in Catholic Education (OAPCE).
He speaks English, Polish, Italian, and Spanish, and has previously studied French, Russian, and Latin.
Bishop Dabrowski’s motto is Jesu In Te Confido (“Jesus, I Trust in You”).
Most Reverend Douglas Crosby, OMI
Bishop Douglas Crosby was installed as Bishop of Hamilton on 28 November 2010. He served the Diocese until 1 November 2025, when, having surpassed the usual retirement age of 75, his resignation was accepted by Pope Leo XIV.
Bishop Crosby was born in Marathon, Ontario, to David and Natalie Crosby, on 28 June 1949, the first of seven children.
He was ordained a priest with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1975, and served as Associate Pastor, Pastor, Vocation Director, and Provincial Superior of the Order. He also served as Director of the Missions Office and then as General Secretary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB). He was ordained Bishop in 1998 and first served as Bishop of Labrador City-Schefferville.
In 2003, Bishop Crosby was appointed Bishop of St. George’s (Newfoundland and Labrador) while continuing to serve as Bishop of Labrador City-Schefferville. Following a realignment of diocesan boundaries, he was appointed first Bishop of Corner Brook and Labrador on 9 September 2007.
Bishop Crosby was appointed Bishop of Hamilton on 24 September 2010, and took possession of the See on 8 November 2010, at a ceremony at the Cathedral of Christ the King.
Bishop Crosby has served the CCCB as Chair of the English-Sector Liturgy Commission, and represented the Conference for nine years as a member of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL). He also chaired the Commission for Evangelization and Catechesis, and has served as a member of the Standing Committee for Family and Life. He was also a member of the CCCB Executive Committee, serving as Co-Treasurer for the English Sector, Vice-President, and President.
Within the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario (ACBO), Bishop Crosby has also served as Chair of the Social Affairs Commission.
On 1 June 2022, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Crosby a member of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, led by its Prefect, His Eminence Arthur Cardinal Roche.
The Diocese of Hamilton was established on 29 February 1856 by Pope Pius IX as a division of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Toronto. The first Bishop was the Right Reverend John Farrell, installed on 24 May 1856.
The Diocese of Hamilton is the second largest English-speaking Roman Catholic Diocese in Canada, encompassing the Counties of Brant, Bruce, Grey, Halton, Waterloo, Wellington, and four Townships in the County of Dufferin.
There are currently 119 parishes in the Diocese, with the inspiring Christ the King Basilica, built in 1933, as the Cathedral. It is also the home of a number of religious communities of men and women as well as Catholic educational and health care institutions.
Published on the CCCB website
