Former general secretary Pollesel remembered as faithful servant

Michele—also known as Michael—Pollesel, who served as general secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada from 2006 to 2011 and then as bishop of Uruguay, died Nov. 21 at the Ottawa Hospital after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 76.

General Secretary Andrea Mann said in an email to staff members at the office of General Synod, known as Church House, that Pollesel “will long be remembered by Church House for his servant leadership, kindness, and strength in the Missio Dei [mission of God] working actively to redeem and restore creation.”

Former primate Archbishop Fred Hiltz, who worked closely with Pollesel starting in 2007, told the Journal a hallmark of the latter’s ministry was being very close to the people he served, whether as a parish priest, archdeacon, bishop or general secretary.

“Michael was always very calm and steady and [had] very much a servant leadership style,” Hiltz said. “Michael never, in my experience, got flustered easily. He was always a centre of calm, even in the midst of a storm of one kind or another. He was a very gentle, soft-spoken person … and we had a very good working relationship. I felt blessed to have him as the general secretary at the time.”

Hiltz, who delivered the homily at Pollesel’s funeral on Dec. 2 at Julian of Norwich Anglican Church in Ottawa, said Pollesel was very supportive of his initiative to put the Anglican Communion’s Five Marks of Mission front and centre in the Anglican Church of Canada.

“To me, he’s always been the epitome of what one of our prayers says,” Hiltz said of Pollesel, particularly in the case of the latter’s illness. “He was patient and suffering and faithful in adversity, and he never ever lost hope.”

Born in 1949 in Copper Cliff, Sudbury, Ont.—part of the local Italian community that arrived after the Second World War—Pollesel was the first person in his family to attend university, earning a bachelor’s degree from Laurentian University and then a master’s degree from Carlton University.

Feeling a call to become a priest, he moved to Toronto and earned an MDiv degree from Wycliffe College. Starting in 1979, he served as a priest at numerous parishes in the diocese of Toronto: first St. Simon the Apostle, then St. Simon’s Church in Highland Creek, and in 1984 helping lead the amalgamation of two parishes to form St. Dunstan of Canterbury Anglican Church in Scarborough.

In 1994 Pollesel moved to the diocese of Ontario, where he served as incumbent at St. Thomas Anglican Church in Belleville, and later in the diocesan offices in Kingston as stewardship education coordinator and then interim diocesan executive officer. In 2005 he earned a doctorate in ministry from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in Rochester, N.Y. before becoming general secretary of the Anglican Church of Canada the following year.

Shannon Cottrell, executive secretary for governance in the general secretary’s office, remembered Pollesel’s ability to connect with people and to build relationships. Upon becoming general secretary, she said, one of Pollesel’s first actions was to invite Church House staff for a coffee and chat at nearby St. Simon the Apostle—now the Church of St. Peter and St. Simon-the-Apostle—which he did in two separate groups.

“That was the first time I had experienced something like that,” Cottrell said. “I really remember just being so appreciative of his desire to get to know who we were as individuals, not just who we were in the workplace … When I was having a challenging time with something related to work, he was very open to me coming to speak to him and was a problem solver and just really took the time to listen and to help find a solution.”

When Pollesel’s wife Gini died Dec. 27, 2009 in a car crash, during which Pollesel suffered a concussion and broken ribs and his mother Maria sustained minor injuries, a group of Church House staff members travelled to Ottawa to attend Gini’s funeral.

“I think [that was] a testament to how much people respected him and the relationship we formed with him … We really wanted to be there for him in that moment,” Cottrell said.

In December 2011, Pollesel—a fluent speaker of English, French, Spanish and Italian—was elected bishop of Uruguay, assuming the office in May 2013 and serving until his retirement in July 2017. As bishop he supported same-sex marriage and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. His tenure coincided with the Anglican Church of Uruguay’s officially allowing the ordination of female priests, starting in 2015.

Pollesel returned to Canada in retirement, moving back to Ottawa to be with his family. In 2019 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Yet the retired bishop and general secretary remained active, including fulfilling a lifelong goal of walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in 2022.

Canadian Anglican bishops paid tribute to Pollesel on Facebook after his death. Former primate Archbishop Linda Nicholls called Pollesel a “good and faithful servant” with whom she shared good memories from their time together in the Scarborough deanery.

Bishop Kevin Robertson, suffragan bishop of the diocese of Toronto, called Pollesel a “great servant of God’s people.” Retired bishop of Ontario Michael Oulton described him as a “good friend and faithful disciple of Christ.” Current primate Archbishop Shane Parker conveyed the “heartfelt prayers of gratitude and commendation from the Anglican Church of Canada” to Pollesel’s family.

Pollesel is survived by his wife Vilma, adult children, step-children and grandchildren.

Correction: The spelling of the names of Pollesel’s wife Gini and Copper Cliff have been corrected.