Holy Cross pastor is appointed auxiliary bishop by Pope Benedict

The longtime pastor of Holy Cross Catholic Church has been appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Toronto. Father Peter Hundt, 50, was appointed to the post by Pope Benedict XVI and will be ordained in Hamilton on April 25. Hundt's appointment is the first papal appointment in the archdiocese since Pope Benedict XVI assumed the papacy 10 months ago. "I will do my best to be worthy of this appointment and of the trust that has been placed in me," said Hundt, who added he was honoured to be appointed Auxiliary Bishop. In his new role, Hundt will serve as one of three assistants to the cardinals in the diocese. He will be based in Barrie and oversee Simcoe County, and York and Durham Regions where he said he will network with the 62 parishes and their pastors. "It's a great honour, but it will be a great challenge," said Hundt, pastor in Georgetown since 1994. "We give thanks for the appointment of Bishop-Designate Hundt," said Aloysius Cardinal Ambrozic of the Toronto Archdiocese. "He brings great experience to our archdiocese, both as a pastor and former chancellor with the Diocese of Hamilton. No doubt he will bring wonderful gifts to our community. May God bless him as he begins his important work." Calling the post a "massive change" for him, Hundt said he will miss the hands-on parish work he has enjoyed in Georgetown. "It's a wonderful parish (Georgetown) and I've been happy here." Hundt will leave the parish on April 16. The soon-to-be ordained bishop's future career was apparent early in his life, according to his mother Joan Hundt. In the April 2003, edition of Reflections, a Diocese of Hamilton newsletter, she recalls how her little boy would stand on a kitchen chair and deliver pretend sermons. It was a tendency she says the family did its best to nurture. Hundt remembers his kitchen-preaching began when he was about five years old, but he doesn't recall anything at all about what he advocated. "I've got five younger brothers and sisters," he said, chuckling. "We played Mass. I was the priest and they had to be the congregation." He said it wasn't so surprising to play mass as children in a family of devout Catholics who attended church every Sunday. He added, however, they also played school and cowboys and Indians as well. "The priesthood was something at an early age I did think about," said Hundt, born in Hanover, Ontario in 1956. He received a Masters of Divinity from the University of Western Ontario in 1981 and was ordained to the priesthood for the diocese of Hamilton in 1982.