Ruling Bishop Appointed for Saskatoon Eparchy in Canada
Today, on November 30, 2023, the Vatican announced that His Holiness Pope Francis, having blessed the decision of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, appointed the Most Reverend Father Mykhailo Smolinsky, formerly the Provincial Superior of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in Canada, as the ruling bishop of the Saskatoon Eparchy of the UGCC in Canada, as it was reported by the press service of the Holy See.
Since April 28, 2022, the Apostolic Administrator of the vacant seat of the Saskatoon Eparchy has been Bishop Lawrence Huculiak, Archbishop and Metropolitan of Winnipeg. The nominee, Bishop Mykhailo Smolinsky, will become the sixth ruling bishop of the Saskatoon Eparchy since its foundation in 1956. The first bishop was Bishop Andriy Roboretsky, and Bishops Vasyl Filevych, Cornelius Pasichny, Mykhailo Vivchar, and Brian Baida led the diocese.
Biographical note
The nominee Bishop Michael Smolinski was born on September 10, 1972 in Saskatoon, Canada.
He entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) on September 1, 1997, and took perpetual vows on August 15, 2002. He studied at the University of Saskatchewan, where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in education, and earned a master’s of divinity from the faculty of theology at St. Michael’s College in Toronto. He also completed a course in Eastern Christian Studies at the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute at St. Paul University in Ottawa.
He was ordained a priest on July 5, 2003, at the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Saskatoon by the then Bishop of the Saskatoon Eparchy, Michael Wiwchar. He served in the following church ministries: associate pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Winnipeg (2003–05), Director of The Welcome Home inner-city ministry (2005–2015) in Winnipeg; extraordinary member of the Provincial Council of Redemptorists (since 2008); pastor of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Saskatoon (2015–2019) and associate pastor of Saints Peter and Paul (2019–22). Since January 17, 2023, he has been the provincial superior of the Redemptorist Congregation in Canada.
The UGCC Department for Information
