The Time and the Place for the Consecration of the New Bishop
December 7, 2023
On November 30, 2023, His Holiness Pope Francis, appointed the Fr. Michael Smolinski, formerly the Provincial Superior of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in Canada, as the new bishop of the Saskatoon Eparchy.
The episcopal ordination of Fr. Michael Smolinski, CSsR, will take place on January 19-21, 2024 in Saskatoon, SK. His Beatitude Patriarch Sviatoslav plans to visit Canada for the consecration of the newly elect.
Metropolitan Lewrence Huculak, OSBM, Archbishop of Winnipeg, the apostolic administrator of Saskatoon Eparchy, and Bishop Bryan Bayda of Toronto, the former bishop of the eparchy, will be the co-concecrators of the new bishop and join Patriarch Sviatoslav for the celebration.
On January 19, the rite of the episcopal nomination of Fr. Michael Smolinski, will begin on Friday, 6:30 pm at the church of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Saskatoon.
The Church of Saints Peter and Paul will be the center for celebration of the hierarchical Divine Liturgy with the episcopal consecration of Fr. Michael Saturday, January 20, at 10:00 am where the new bishop served as a parish priest for eight years.
The very next day His Beatitude Sviatoslav will enthrone the sixth bishop of the Saskatoon Eparchy bishop Michael Smolinski, CSsR, at St. George's Cathedral.
We ask you to pray for Fr. Michael as he begin his new ministry in the Church.
Bishop-Elect Smolinski was born on 10 September 1972. He was ordained a priest on 5 July 2003. He completed primary and secondary education at Greater Saskatoon Catholic schools (Bishop Pocock Elementary and Holy Cross High School) finishing in 1990.
He obtained a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1994. Bishop-Elect Smolinski obtained a Master of Divinity degree in 2002 from the University of St. Michael's College through the Faculty of Theology.
He continued studies to earn a Certificate in Eastern Christian Studies in 2023 at the University of St. Paul/Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies.
He worked with youth as Youth Ministry Coordinator for the Edmonton Eparchy (1994-1996). A few years later, he served as the assistant pastor at St. Joseph Ukrainian Church in Winnipeg (2003-2005). He worked as director at The Welcome Home (Redemptorist Inner-City Mission) in Winnipeg from 2015 to 2019.
Bishop-Elect Smolinski was pastor at Saints Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church Saskatoon (2015-2019). He also served as the Extraordinary Provincial Council Member and Ordinary Provincial Council Member in the former Redemptorist Province of Yorkton and Consultor, Eparchy of Saskatoon (2015-2019).
He worked as coordinator of the Yorkton region (Province of Canada) and assistant pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church in Saskatoon from 2019 to 2022.
Bishop-Elect Smolinski was elected provincial superior of the Redemptorist Province of Canada on 9 November 2022.
Hi enthronement as Bishop of the Eparchy will be announced at a later date Bishop-Elect Smolinski will replace the current apostolic administrator, the Most Rev. Metropolitan Lawrence Huculak, OSBM, Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Winnipeg and Metropolitan of Canada.
The Eparchy of Saskatoon is the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Saskatchewan. The Eparchy is made up of about 90 parishes (of varying degrees of activity), 15 eparchial priests, 8 priests serving from monastic communities or religious orders, 3 deacons, 18 nuns, and some 3,100 Catholic lay people. There is also one Catholic school with a Ukrainian Bilingual Program, one Nursing Home run by the Sisters of St. Joseph's, and three Senior Citizens' Residences.
Biographical information from CCCB
