Pope Leo XIV Appoints Most Rev. Michael Kwiatkowski as New Metropolitan Archbishop of Winnipeg
The Ukrainian Catholic Bishops in Canada are pleased to share the announcement made by the Vatican Press Service on Thursday, 9 July 2026, that His Holiness Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of the Most Rev. Lawrence Huculak, O. S. B. M., Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg, upon his reaching the age of 75. Concurrently, His Holiness appointed the Most Rev. Michael Kwiatkowski, heretofore the Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of New Westminster, as the new Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg. The date of his installation will be announced as soon as it is determined.
The nomination of Bishop Michael to serve as the sixth bishop and fourth Metropolitan Archbishop of the Winnipeg See was proposed by the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and subsequently accepted and confirmed by His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.
Bishop Michael Kwiatkowski, who was ordained a priest in 1986 by Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk, C. Ss. R., for the Archeparchy of Winnipeg, has served in various parishes in Manitoba, England, Italy, and Ukraine. He has also served as Secretary and Chancellor within the Archeparchy, as well as Chancellor of the Patriarchal Curia of the UGCC, Judge and Head of the Patriarchal Tribunal, and Head of the Patriarchal Catechetical Commission. Additionally, he served for six years as Vice-Rector and lecturer in canon law at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Ukraine.
Three years ago, the Most Rev. Michael Kwiatkowski was appointed by Pope Francis as the fourth Bishop of the Eparchy of New Westminster on Canada’s West Coast. He was consecrated a bishop at Sts. Volodymyr & Olha Cathedral in Winnipeg by Metropolitan Lawrence Huculak, Metropolitan Borys Gudziak of Philadelphia, and Bishop David Motiuk of Edmonton on 8 November 2023, and was installed at Holy Eucharist Cathedral in New Westminster later that month on 18 November 2023.
Bishop Michael very much enjoyed working with the clergy of the Eparchy of New Westminster and serving the faithful of that eparchy, which officially spans British Columbia, the Yukon, and a portion of the Northwest Territories. He will greatly miss them. However, he is determined to keep them and his successor in his prayers and to continue to assist in any way possible.
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