Upon learning from Apostolic Nuncio to Canada Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič back on Nov. 23 of his forthcoming new episcopal appointment as the eighth Archbishop of Winnipeg, Archbishop Murray Chatlain has spent his time praying and discerning.  

The 61-year-old Canadian Catholic prelate concluded God wished him to respond with a heartfelt “yes.”

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) officially announced on Dec. 30 that Archbishop Richard Gagnon, 76, will retire after Pope Francis accepted his resignation request and that Chatlain will be his successor. Gagnon has served the Winnipeg Archdiocese since 2013 and will remain apostolic administrator until Chatlain’s installation. Chatlain is currently Archbishop of Keewatin-Le Pas.

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In an interview with The Catholic Register, Chatlain, a product of Saskatoon, Sask., said he is pleased to begin this new chapter, but he is also “finding it difficult to leave Keewatin-Le Pas.”

“I have been connected to that diocese for 12 years and I’ve poured my heart and soul (into) there,” said Chatlain, who was ordained a priest in 1987. “I guess if I had a bishop coming to my diocese, I wouldn't want one that could leave his old diocese easily.”

His dozen years serving Manitoba’s northern diocese invited him to continue building relationships with Canada’s Indigenous peoples, a distinguishing throughline of his vocational journey.

Chatlain’s treasured ties with Canada’s First Nations date back nearly a quarter century. He spent 2000 and 2001 learning the Dëne language in the village of La Loche, Sask. He then experienced four years culturally immersed among the Dëne in Black Lake and Fond du Lac, Sask.

In 2007, Chatlain was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of MacKenzie-Fort Smith by Pope Benedict XVI, and one year later he became bishop of that Northwest Territories bishopric. A CCCB press release commended him as “instrumental in the pastoral outreach to Indigenous communities in the north.”

From 2008 to 2014, Chatlain served as a representative on the Canadian Catholic Aboriginal Council, a body striving to fulfil the pastoral needs of Indigenous communities. He also served as a representative and later co-chair for Our Lady of Guadalupe Circle, a Catholic coalition of Indigenous peoples, bishops, clergy, lay movements and institutes striving for relationships of renewal between the Catholic Church and the First Nations of Canada.

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The son of Harvey and Katherine Chatlain told The Register that his years in the “Indigenous world” have taught him that many issues are connected to “being disappointed often and abandonment.” Suggesting that his departure could cause these feelings to arise, Chatlain said he is assuring the Indigenous of his diocese that “God is with us yet and there will be a good bishop coming to replace me,” and that he will keep them close to his heart in prayer.

Cherishing the influence his father has had on his life, Chatlain recalled Harvey once telling him it is important to “give the people an opportunity to say what they want to say to you as you're leaving.” He intends to honour this piece of fatherly wisdom in his remaining weeks as the spiritual shepherd of Keewatin-Le Pas.

Anticipating a Mass of installation “in late March or early April,” Chatlain is keen to embark on a journey of discovery within the Archdiocese of Winnipeg, which is “an unknown” to him in a lot of ways. 

One thing he does know and is “really grateful for” is that Winnipeg has been gifted with strong archdiocesan leadership.

“I've known Archbishop (of Winnipeg from 2000 to 2013) James Weisgerber for many years,” said Chatlain. “He was my bishop in Saskatoon. And so, he was a great bishop in Winnipeg. And I have a lot of respect for Richard Gagnon. He is so calm, genuine and really wise in the storms. He's just a gifted leader.”

Crediting God for blessing him with the gift of listening, Chatlain intends to spend his first year in the Manitoba capital largely learning and observing. He always advised priests joining parishes in Keewatin-Le Pas not to change things during their first year, and now he intends to follow his own advice.

Chatlain also vows to approach this new role as akin to entering into a marriage.

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“It's not just taking a new job,” said Chatlain. “It's something you have to wholeheartedly embrace. You marry the Church of Winnipeg. I strive to be a spiritual father to all the people and communities of that area through God's grace. So that I'm all in, that I will give my heart and soul to the Archdiocese of Winnipeg.”

Chatlain will be taking over an archdiocese with 58 diocesan priests, 13 priests who are members of religious orders and societies of apostolic life, 19 religious Brothers and Sisters and 20 permanent deacons serving a Catholic population of 162,276 in 88 parishes and missions.