Winnipeg- Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Bishop Laurence Huculak, who had been eparchial bishop of Edmonton, as archbishop of Winnipeg and metropolitan of Ukrainian Catholics in Canada. The press service of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada publicized the news on 9 January 2006. RISU note: In Ukraine, this church is called the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), while in the diaspora it now calls itself the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
The enthronement of Archbishop Huculak will take place on 11 February 2006 in Winnipeg and be conducted by Patriarch Lubomyr (Husar), head of the UGCC, who will be traveling from Kyiv for the occasion.
The Pope at the same time accepted the resignation of Archbishop Michael Bzdel of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg.
"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 12 years," said Archbishop Bzdel. "I would like to assure Archbishop Lawrence of my prayerful and fraternal support."
"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 Archbishop Huculak. "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 Huculak was born on 25 January 1951, in Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. Following perpetual religious vows in the Order of Saint Basil the Great, he was ordained a priest on 28 August 1977. He holds a doctorate in liturgy from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. On 3 April 1997 he was ordained bishop for the Eparchy of Edmonton.
The Archeparchy of Winnipeg has a Ukrainian Catholic population of 29,740, with 144 parishes and missions, 46 diocesan and religious priests, 13 deacons, and 27 women religious.
Source: press service of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada