Fr. Francis Noronha was born on the 7th of November 1981 in Mangalore, Southern part of India. He is the third eldest of three brothers and four sisters. He has a brother who is priest and a sister who is a religious sister. Born in a traditional Catholic family, his father worked as a farmer and his mother was a housewife. In 2010, his mother suddenly passed.

After completing high school in 1997, he decided to discern his vocation to become a priest in the Congregation of Holy Cross. He completed a year as a novitiate in 2005 after completing a Bachelor of Arts in 2004, in Bangalore, India. He completed a degree in Philosophy from 2005 until 2007. After completing his pastoral year in 2008, he was asked to come to Canada to pursue a Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree at the University of Toronto at Regis College, Toronto. He completed his MDiv in 2011 and was ordained a priest on December 8, 2011 along with his brother Ronald, who is a diocesan priest. After completing a Master of Sacred Theology from 2011 until 2012, he served as an associate pastor at different parishes; St. Kevin’s parish from September 2012 to November 2013; St. Ann and St. Joseph parish from November 2013 until June 2015. In June 2015, he was appointed administrator of St. Joseph parish and in 2017 became the pastor. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo in Spiritual care and Psychotherapy.

I am excited to join the St. Thomas the Apostle community.