Today, November 30, 2023, the Holy See announced that His Holiness Pope Francis—having blessed the decision of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC—has appointed the Very Reverend Father Michael Smolinski, CSsR, as the ruling bishop of the Saskatoon Eparchy of the UGCC in Canada.
Since April 28, 2022, the Saskatoon Eparchy has been under the care of Metropolitan Lawrence Huculak, Archbishop and Metropolitan of Winnipeg, who served as Apostolic Administrator of the vacant see. Bishop-nominee Michael Smolinski will become the sixth ruling bishop of the Saskatoon Eparchy since its establishment in 1956. He follows in the footsteps of the eparchy’s previous hierarchs: Bishop Andrew Roborecki, Bishop Basil Filevich, Bishop Cornelius Pasichny, Bishop Michael Wiwchar, and Bishop Bryan Bayda.
Biographical Note
Bishop-nominee 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 professed perpetual vows on August 15, 2002. He studied at the University of Saskatchewan, where he received a Bachelor of Education degree, and earned a Master 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 to the priesthood on July 5, 2003, at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Saskatoon by the then-Bishop of Saskatoon, Michael Wiwchar. He has served the Church in the following capacities:
Associate Pastor: St. Joseph Parish, Winnipeg (2003–2005)
Director: The Welcome Home inner-city ministry, Winnipeg (2005–2015)
Extraordinary Member: Provincial Council of Redemptorists (since 2008)
Pastor: Saints Peter and Paul, Saskatoon (2015–2019)
Associate Pastor: Saints Peter and Paul, Saskatoon (2019–2022)
Provincial Superior: Redemptorist Congregation in Canada (Since January 17, 2023)
