Newly Appointed Archbishop-Metropolitan of Ukrainian Catholics in Canada
His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, accepted the resignation of Most Rev. Michael BZDEL of the Archeparchy (Archdiocese) of Winnipeg. It was presented in accord with canon 210, �1 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.
At the same time, the Holy Father appointed Most Rev. Lawrence HUCULAK, until now Eparchial (Diocesan) Bishop of Edmonton, as Archbishop of Winnipeg and Metropolitan of Ukrainian Catholics in Canada.
�I am grateful to Our Lord for having had the privilege to serve the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada as its metropolitan for the last twelve years,� said His Grace Metropolitan Michael, �I would like to assure Archbishop Lawrence of my prayerful and fraternal support.�
The enthronement of Archbishop Huculak will take place 10:00 am, Saturday, February 11, 2006, at Saints Volodymyr and Olga Cathedral, Winnipeg, by His Beatitude Lubomyr Cardinal Husar, Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, who will be traveling from Kyiv, Ukraine for this occasion.
�This is an exciting time for the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada, we are entering our 50th Jubilee Year since the establishment of the Metropolitan See of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and establishment of the Eparchies of Toronto, Saskatoon and Edmonton,� said Most Rev. Lawrence. �Last May in Winnipeg, at the Encounter of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada, when all of our bishops, many members of the clergy gathered with Cardinal Husar to reflect on our mission in Canada we were all filled with a sense of renewed enthusiasm for our pastoral ministry. It is in this spirit that I look forward to serving our Canadian Ukrainian Catholic Church as its metropolitan.�
Archbishop Lawrence was born on January 25, 1951, in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. Following perpetual religious vows in the Order of Saint Basil the Great, he was ordained a priest on August 28, 1977. He holds a doctorate in liturgy from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. On April 3, 1997, he was ordained a bishop for the Eparchy of Edmonton.
The Archeparchy of Winnipeg has a Ukrainian Catholic population of 29,740, 144 parishes and missions, 46 diocesan and religious priests, 13 deacons, and 27 women religious.
(from the Archeparchy of Winnipeg website)
