Last Updated: Wednesday - 01/05/2011

A period of Change in the West

EDMONTON — Bishop Luc Bouchard's appointment as bishop of St. Paul is one of the last links in a major upheaval in the Western Canadian episcopacy that has taken place over the last seven years.

Thirteen of the 22 dioceses in Western Canada have had new bishops appointed over that time period, some of them twice. Two other dioceses remain vacant.

When the dioceses of Whitehorse and Kamloops, B.C., receive their new bishops, it will draw to a close a relatively brief period of major changes to the leadership of the Western Church.

To outline the changes that have taken place since 1995, it is worth surveying each of the dioceses of the West.

Alberta:

Edmonton: Archbishop Thomas Collins replaced retiring Archbishop Joseph MacNeil in 1999.

Calgary: Bishop Frederick Henry replaced retiring Bishop Paul O'Byrne in 1998.

St. Paul: Bishop Thomas Collins replaced retiring Bishop Raymond Roy in 1997. Collins moved to Edmonton in 1999 and then later was apostolic administrator for several months before Bouchard's appointment.

Grouard-McLennan: Archbishop Henri Goudreault replaced retiring Archbishop Henri Legare in 1996. Goudreault died in 1998. The new bishop. Archbishop Arth‚ Guimond, was named in 2000.

Mackenzie-Fort Smith: Bishop Denis Croteau has been bishop since 1986.

Edmonton Ukrainian Eparchy: Bishop Lawrence Huculak was installed as bishop in 1997. Bishop Myron Daciuk has died in early 1996.

British Columbia:

Vancouver: Archbishop Adam Exner has been head of this diocese since 1991.

Victoria: Bishop Raymond Roussin replaced retiring Bishop Remi De Roo in 1999.

Kamloops: Bishop Lawrence Sabatini retired in September 1999. No replacement has been named.

Nelson: Bishop Eugene Cooney became bishop in 1996 replacing Archbishop Peter Mallon who had become archbishop of Regina.

Prince George: Bishop Gerald Wiesner has been bishop since 1991.

Whitehorse: Bishop Thomas Lobsinger was killed in a plane crash in April 2000. No replacement has been named.

New Westminster Ukrainian Eparchy: Bishop Severian Yakymyshyn has been bishop since 1995.

Saskatchewan:

Regina: Archbishop Peter Mallon was appointed in 1995 replacing Archbishop Charles Halpin who had died in 1994.

Saskatoon: Bishop Albert LeGatt became bishop this fall replacing Archbishop James Weisgerber who became archbishop of Winnipeg in 2000. Weisgerber had been bishop since 1996, replacing Bishop James Mahoney who had died a year earlier.

St. Peter's Abbacy: The abbacy was merged with the Saskatoon Diocese in 1998.

Gravelbourg: This diocese was dissolved in 1998.

Prince Albert: Bishop Blaise Morand has been bishop since 1981.

Saskatoon Ukrainian Eparchy: Bishop Michael Wiwchar was installed earlier this year. He replaced Bishop Cornelius Pasichny who was moved to Toronto in July 1998.

Manitoba:

St. Boniface: Archbishop Emilius Goulet was installed this summer, replacing Archbishop Antoine Hacault who died in April 2000.

Winnipeg: Archbishop James Weisgerber replaced retiring Archbishop Leonard Wall in 2000.

Keewatin-Le Pas: Archbishop Peter Sutton has been archbishop since 1986.

Churchill-Hudson's Bay: Bishop Reynald Rouleau has been bishop since 1987.

Winnipeg Ukrainian Eparchy: Archbishop Michael Bzdel has been archbishop since 1993.

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