Press Release: Ukrainian Catholic Bishops Meet in Winnipeg

From Sunday evening, April 12 until Tuesday, April 14, a meeting of the Ukrainian Catholic bishops of North America was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba at the chancery office of the Archeparchy of Winnipeg, located on the banks of the historic Red River.

The purpose of the meeting, besides strengthening the fellowship and fraternal bond among the bishops, was to share and discuss mutual challenges facing the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the North American diaspora, to celebrate successes and achievements, and to plan mutual strategies for the future. 

The Metropolitan Archbishop of Winnipeg, Most Rev. Lawrence Huculak hosted the following bishops for the meeting: Archbishop Borys Gudziak (Archbishop of Philadelphia, Metropolitan of Ukrainian Catholics in the United States), Bishop David Motiuk (Edmonton Eparchy), Bishop Paul Chomnycky (Stamford Eparchy), Bishop Benedict Aleksiychuk (Eparch of St. Nicholas Eparchy in Chicago), Bishop Bryan Bayda (Eparchy of Toronto), Bishop Bohdan Danylo (St. Josaphat Eparchy in Parma), Bishop Andriy Rabiy (Auxiliary Bishop of the Archeparchy of Winnipeg), Bishop Michael Smolinski (Eparchy of Saskatoon), and Bishop Michael Kwiatkowski, (Eparchy of New Westminster). 

Over the course of two days the Canadian and American bishops held their own separate Metropolia meetings, culminating with a final plenary session with all the bishops together. 

The bishops heard short reports on the work of Patriarchal Catechetical Commission (Bishop Michael Kwiatkowski), the Patriarchal Youth Commission (Bishop Bryan Bayda), and the Patriarchal Commission for Clergy (Bishop Bohdan Danylo). 

Among other topics, the bishops also discussed challenges faced by recent Ukrainian immigrants in our two countries and ways in which our parish communities can assist and support them, and the current status of work on the English translation of the Divine Liturgy, which, hopefully, will be in the hands of the faithful by the end of this year. 

The bishops also confirmed their support for two upcoming annual events: the SingCon Cantors Workshop, to be held at St. Elias Ukrainian Catholic Parish in Brampton, ON from September 10-14, 2026, and the All-American Youth Pilgrimage to be held in Parma, OH from June 11-14, 2026. Lay participants from all our eparchies will be encouraged to participate in these events. 

The meeting ended on Tuesday evening, April 14, 2026 with a testimonial banquet held in honor of Most Rev. Archbishop Lawrence Huculak on the occasion of his 75th birthday and 20th anniversary of his Installation as Metropolitan of Winnipeg. Over 400 bishops, priests, religious men, women, and lay faithful gathered to fete their beloved archpastor on this memorable occasion.

This press release is issued by the Ukrainian Catholic Bishops of North America following their meeting in Winnipeg.