MOST REVEREND ROBERT ANTHONY DANIELS

The Most Reverend Robert Anthony Daniels is the Bishop of the Diocese of Grand Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Robert Anthony Daniels was born June 18, 1957 in Windsor, Ontario, son of Robert Daniels and Barbara (née Fuerth), both of whom are deceased. He was second in a family of four children, having two sisters and one brother. He attended St. Peter’s Seminary in London and received a Master of Divinity Degree from the University of Western Ontario. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of London on May 7, 1983 and ordained as Bishop on November 9, 2004 at St. Peter’s Cathedral Basilica in London.

Bishop Daniels was installed as the ninth Bishop of the Diocese of Grand Falls on April 11, 2011.

In the Coat of Arms designed for Bishop Daniels, the shield is divided into two sections by an angled line peaking in the centre. The upper part of the shield is red and on it are two white keys in an X shape between a white fleur-de-lis on the left and an eagle’s head with a halo on the right, also in white. The bottom section is blue and is crisscrossed by narrow white diagonal stripes forming a net pattern.

Blue is a colour associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary and it can also refer to the deep sea of the motto. This idea of casting a net out into the sea, a metaphor for gathering disciples, is reflected in the net-like pattern. The red section of the shield indicates Bishop Daniels’ English and Welsh ancestry. The keys at the apex are the traditional attributes of St. Peter and mark the fact that Bishop Daniels was posted at St. Peter’s Cathedral Basilica in London before being named to the episcopate. Their placement at the end of the net is appropriate as Peter himself was a fisherman. The fleur-de-lis symbolizes the Blessed Virgin Mary, the principal patron of the Diocese of London, and the nimbed eagle is the symbol of St. John the Evangelist, marking Bishop Daniels’ ordination as a bishop on the Feast of the Dedication of St. John  Lateran.

The motto DUC IN ALTUM, meaning “Put out into the deep”, is a phrase in Luke 5:4, in which Jesus says “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a catch” (NRSV). Bishop Daniels chose this motto from the Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte issued by Pope John Paul II on January 6, 2001 to mark the beginning of the third millennium.