Ten days after four Canadian archbishops received the pallium from Pope Leo XIV, another Canadian bishop learned he would soon become a metropolitan archbishop.

On July 9, Pope Leo appointed Bishop Michael Kwiatkowski, 64, of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Eparchy of New Westminster, B.C., as metropolitan archbishop of the Archeparchy of Winnipeg. He succeeds Archbishop Lawrence Huculak, OSBM, whose resignation was accepted after he turned 75.

The date of Kwiatkowski’s enthronement in Winnipeg, less than three years after arriving in the Vancouver suburb from Winnipeg, has not been announced.

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As the Manitoba native returns to his home province, he will transition between jurisdictions that are very different in history, geography and density. The Eparchy of New Westminster, founded in 1974, is the youngest Ukrainian Greek Catholic eparchy in North America. Its 16 parishes are scattered across a territory of nearly 5 million square kilometres encompassing British Columbia, Yukon and parts of Canada’s North.

In Winnipeg he will be in the heartland of Ukrainian Greek Catholic life in Canada. The archeparchy is the historic and administrative centre of Ukrainian Catholicism in Canada, with 92 parishes and missions concentrated largely in Manitoba.

It is also the metropolitan see of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic ecclesiastical province of Canada, which in addition to New Westminster includes the eparchies of Edmonton, Saskatoon, and Toronto and Eastern Canada.

Speaking to Canadian Catholic News from Ukraine, where he was attending the annual Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Kwiatkowski made no attempt to hide his surprise. When appointed to New Westminster in 2023, he expected it would be “a very long-term appointment.”

“I was very happy with that as, besides the wonderful weather, there is so much that can be done in this eparchy … challenges as well as opportunities,” he said.

“I remember saying this Easter that I feel more at home in the eparchy [of New Westminster] than ever! Well, now I will be leaving that home.”

Although the move comes with some sadness, he said “we should not see it as a departure,” but as an opportunity to “keep our friendship and family ties, and continue to collaborate from now on.”

Kwiatkowski said he will oversee New Westminster until the appointment of a successor, which could take up to a year, although he hopes it will happen much sooner.

His brief tenure in the West taught him much, he said, above all the value of involving clergy and laity in planning.

“I learned very much,” he said, particularly through “the goodness of people who really love their Church and want to make a go of their parishes and are not passive, but if included in the pastoral planning, will step up and move forward.”

New Westminster recently began an eparchy-wide renewal effort with a comprehensive study of parish life and the needs of young people, seniors, women, immigrants and other communities. The process is intended to lead to a “sobor,” or council, this autumn and ultimately to a pastoral plan.

Financial stability in the Eparchy of New Westminster is among the most pressing concerns.

“One of the biggest surprises to me when I first arrived was the financial status,” Kwiatkowski said. “Finding the essential financial support for the life of the eparchy will be an ongoing challenge for the foreseeable future.”

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Providing adequate priestly ministry to faithful scattered across immense distances is also a significant challenge. However, he sees signs of hope.

“This fall we will have two young men in the seminary,” he said, adding seminary formation will require adequate financial resources.

In Winnipeg, Kwiatkowski will have more than five times as many parishes and missions as New Westminster, and his role as metropolitan will connect him more directly with the four suffragan eparchies across Canada.

The structure in Winnipeg is also older and more established than in New Westminster, where some Ukrainian Greek Catholic communities rely on space provided by Roman Catholic parishes. There are also great distances between communities. Manitoba, by contrast, is dotted with Ukrainian churches rooted in more than a century of Prairie settlement.

Catechesis will be an early focus in Winnipeg, a natural fit for Kwiatkowski, who heads the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church’s catechetical commission.

“Winnipeg used to have a truly top catechetical centre, but due to challenges like shifting demographic, the COVID years, and changing technology there is need for renewal,” he said.

He also will review the archeparchy’s human, financial and property resources to determine their most effective use in pastoral service.

Kwiatkowski also said Ukrainian newcomers to Canada have been a blessing while adding new pastoral and humanitarian demands.

“They motivated our eparchies and parishes to heightened activity and collaboration with Ukrainian organizations, like the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. The faithful have really stepped up to provide social and humanitarian aid to the newcomers,” he said.

In some places, newcomers have revitalized parishes, “not only attending services, but becoming active members and even leaders in parish life.”

The challenge is to sustain that aid while ensuring the Church in Canada has the resources to grow.

“A balance will need to be found where the Church here can support its own needs for growth and also support the suffering people in Ukraine.”

For all the contrast between his old and new jurisdictions, Winnipeg will be a homecoming. Kwiatkowski was born in Hamiota, Manitoba, grew up in Brandon and was ordained a priest for the Winnipeg archeparchy in 1986. He served in Winnipeg parishes and was archeparchial chancellor from 2014 until his appointment to New Westminster in 2023.

He also knows well the man he will succeed. Huculak was the principal consecrator at Kwiatkowski’s episcopal ordination in Winnipeg in 2023 and guided him through his preparation, ordination and enthronement.

He credited Huculak with maintaining the archeparchy professionally during his two decades in Winnipeg, while becoming known for engaging homilies and a ready sense of humour. He also learned from Huculak the importance of staying attentive to everything that touches the life of a metropolitan church.

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Kwiatkowski said his predecessor plans to remain in Winnipeg in retirement, providing him with a valued source of experience close at hand.

“I will be happy to knock on his door for advice and, God willing, collaboration in some things if that will be possible.”