The Very Rev. Patrick J. Winslow, V.G., has served as vicar general and chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte since 2019.
As vicar general, Monsignor Winslow reports directly to the bishop on matters related to clergy and vocations, and acts in
place of the bishop in his absence. As chancellor, he also oversees the diocese’s day-to-day administrative and business
operations.
A noted preacher and canon lawyer, he came to the Charlotte diocese in 2002 and has served with distinction in several
important roles, including as Promoter of Justice and as an ex-officio member of the Lay Review Board. As Promoter of
Justice for the diocese, his responsibility was to provide for the public good and serve as prosecutor in Church court
proceedings.
Monsignor Winslow is a member of the Presbyteral Council and the College of Consultors, two groups of priests who serve as
advisors to the bishop. He also serves as clergy formation advisor to St. Joseph College Seminary in Charlotte and sits on the
diocesan Vocations Board.
A native of upstate New York, he studied chemistry in college before discerning a call to the priesthood in 1993. He was
ordained a priest in 1999 and served in parishes and as a maximum-security prison chaplain in the Diocese of Albany, New
York, before moving south and becoming incardinated into the Charlotte diocese in 2002.
In North Carolina, he served as pastor at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Parish in Charlotte, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Parish
in Jefferson and St. Frances of Rome Catholic Mission in Sparta, and St. John the Baptist Catholic Parish in Tryon before
becoming pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Parish in Charlotte in 2012, where he served as pastor until his appointment
as vicar general and chancellor in 2019.
In 2015, he was named a “Missionary of Mercy” by Pope Francis for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, one of only two priests from
the Charlotte diocese and among only about 50 priests from the United States to serve in this unique role. These priests from
around the world were specially selected by the pope to highlight the mercy of God throughout the holy year, by preaching
and offering the sacrament of reconciliation.
He earned a Licentiate of Canon Law at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., in 2012.
A gifted preacher and Scripture scholar, Monsignor Winslow has contributed to numerous Bible studies through Catholic
Scripture Study International, which publishes more than 30 Bible and faith-related study programs.
Monsignor Winslow is the fifth chancellor for the Charlotte diocese.