Fr. Lukas Casta

St. Hedwig, Barry’s Bay

Fr. Michael Lund

St. Andrew, Killaloe

Orianne Dyck
Our Lady of Lourdes, Pembroke

Daughters of St. Paul

Sr. Maria Emmanuel, SV
Ste-Anne, Mattawa

Sisters of Life

Fr. Matthew Whalen, LC
St. John Chrysostom, Arnprior

Legionaries of Christ

Veronica Ferri
St. Columbkille Cathedral, Pembroke

Madonna House Apostolate

Martha Reilander
St. Columbkille, Pembroke

Madonna House Apostolate

Mélanie Pilon
St. John Chrysostom, Arnprior

Regnum Christi Apostolate

Sr. Maria Immaculata
St. Hedwig, Barry's Bay

Sisters of Our Lady Immaculate

Fr. John O'Brien, S.J.
Our Lady of the Angels, Brudenell

Jesuits

Benjamin Afelskie

St. Hedwig, Barry’s Bay

1st Year of Philosophy, Seminarian

Ugochukwu Felix Ujo

St. Columbkille Cathedral, Pembroke

2nd Year of Theology, Seminarian

Chris Kuehl

Our Lady of Lourdes, Pembroke

1st Year of Theology, Seminarian

Augustine Tardiff

Madonna House Apostolate

3rd Year of Theology, Seminarian

The Most Reverend Michael Brehl, C.Ss.R. was born on 7 January 1955 in Toronto and grew up in Holy Cross Parish. After attending Neil McNeil High School,  in 1975 he entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), giving his vows on 15 August 1976. He attended the University of Saint Michael’s College in Toronto, obtaining a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Divinity.

He was ordained a priest for the Redemptorists on 15 March 1980.

He has served in the following ministries: parish vicar of Saint Teresa in Saint John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador (1979-1983), itinerant missionary preacher (1983-1987 and 1999-2000), parish priest of Holy Redeemer in Sudbury, Ontario (1987-1990 and 2000-2002), director of the novitiate (1990-1993), director of formation (1993-1999), provincial superior of Edmonton-Toronto Province (2002-2009), superior general of the Redemptorists (2009-2022), parish vicar of Saint Patrick in Toronto (2022-2024), and provincial superior of the Canadian Redemptorist Province (since 2024).

On June 11, 2024 His Holiness, Pope Francis nominated Michael Brehl as the Tenth Bishop of Pembroke.

Bishop Brehl received ordination to the episcopacy on August 15, 2024, the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, at the Cathedral of St. Columbkille in Pembroke.

Coat of Arms

BLAZON: Or a cross Vert surmounted by a reed topped with a sponge and a spear in saltire proper, overall an open book proper bound Gules and charged  with a mullet of eight points irradiated Or.

Bishop Brehl’s Heraldic Achievement includes elements of  the Redemptorist Arms (the cross, sponge topped reed, and spear) as a way of recognizing him as a spiritual son of St Alphonsus Liguori, and in recognition of his service as the Superior General or the Redemptorists from 2009 to 2022. The colour green, often representing growth and new life, was chosen to contrast with the elements of the crucifixion in  order to remind the viewer that these implements, while  appearing to be instruments of death, are actually the path to new and eternal life—“take up your cross and follow me”, Jesus says in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew. This idea of new and eternal life is underscored in the achievement by the use of gold (an incorruptible metal) which is a symbol of eternity and of Jesus Christ Himself. The open  book reminds us of the Gospels—the binding in red shows us the blood of Christ. The book is also used on the Arms to allude to Bishop’s love of history and reading. The final element—the  eight-pointed ‘StellaMaris’—comes from the veil of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, while the radiating lines subtly speak of the Holy Spirit.
Bishop Brehl’s motto, coming from the second chapter of John, further emphasizes Bishop Brehl’s love of Mary, the Mother of God, for they are her last words recorded in Holy Scripture: “do whatever He tells you”. These words of Our Lady of course do not only apply to the waiters at the Wedding Feast in Cana, but to every Christian throughout history. The green hat and external ornaments are that proper to a Bishop.