Pope appoints Bishop Michael Kwiatkowski to lead UGCC Archdiocese in Canada
On Thursday, July 9, the Vatican announced that Pope Leo XIV had accepted the resignation of Archbishop-Metropolitan Lawrence Huculak from his pastoral office in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Canada, based in Winnipeg. Simultaneously, it was reported that the Holy Father appointed Bishop Michael Kwiatkowski, the former Eparchial Bishop of New Westminster, as the new Archbishop-Metropolitan of Winnipeg.
Biographical Note
Bishop Michael Kwiatkowski was born on November 21, 1961, in Hamiota, Manitoba, Canada. He studied at St. Vladimir's College before pursuing a degree in philosophy and theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome from 1980 to 1986, as a student of the Pontifical Ukrainian College of St. Josaphat. In 1989, he earned a postgraduate degree in bioethics in Lincoln, Nebraska. From 1994 to 2000, he studied at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, where he first earned a licentiate and subsequently a doctorate in Eastern canon law.
Bishop Kwiatkowski was ordained a deacon on September 14, 1985, and a priest on July 28, 1986, by Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk. From 1996 to 2005, he worked in Ukraine, where he held several positions, including Chancellor of the Curia of the Major Archbishop, Judge and President of the Tribunal of the Major Archbishop, Vice-Rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), and Professor of Canon Law as well as Head of the Pastoral Department at UCU.
At the end of 2005, he returned to Canada, serving as Spiritual Director at Holy Spirit Seminary in Ottawa from 2006 to 2010. Since 2014, he has been Chancellor of the Winnipeg Archdiocese.
On August 24, 2023, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had appointed Michael Kwiatkowski as the Eparchial Bishop of New Westminster for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Canada. His episcopal consecration took place on November 8, 2023, at the Cathedral of Sts. Volodymyr and Olha in Winnipeg, Canada. The principal consecrator was Metropolitan Lawrence Huculak of Winnipeg, and the co-consecrators were Bishop Borys Gudziak, Metropolitan of Philadelphia, and Bishop David Motiuk, Eparchial Bishop of Edmonton.
Historical Background
The history of the Winnipeg Archdiocese is closely tied to Ukrainian immigration to Canada. The first parishes were established in the late 19th century. In 1912, the Holy See established the Apostolic Exarchate of Canada, with its seat in Winnipeg. The Winnipeg Metropolis of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Canada was officially established on November 3, 1956, with Archbishop Maxim Hermaniuk, C.Ss.R., serving as its first metropolitan. He was succeeded by Michael Bzdel, C.Ss.R. (1992–2006), and since 2006, Archbishop Lawrence Huculak, OSBM, has led the metropolitanate.
