WCR told you of Church's year of change

These past nine months have been a time of rapid change in the leadership of the Catholic Church in Alberta. It all began with the announcement Dec. 16 that Edmonton Archbishop Thomas Collins had been named archbishop of Toronto.

Those of us who worked with Archbishop Collins were saddened to see him go. He had been a teacher and a friend, an energetic pastor who had launched several programs during his seven years in Edmonton.

Then, Catholics in northwestern Alberta received a new shepherd in Archbishop Gerard Pettipas. His installation was followed quickly by that of Bishop David Motiuk as head of the Edmonton Ukrainian Eparchy.

A long wait?

It had taken more than a year for each of those appointments to move through the wheels of Church bureaucracy. Would Roman Catholics in Edmonton also have to wait that long?

Not so. On March 22, we learned the bishop of Pembroke, Ont., Richard Smith, would be our new archbishop. We were eager to meet Archbishop Smith and he to meet us. We have found him to be an eloquent preacher, a man of the people and a bishop who listens attentively as he familiarizes himself with his new diocese.

At the WCR, we have striven to provide the best coverage possible, first, of Archbishop Collins leaving Edmonton and being installed in Toronto and then of the arrivals of Archbishops Smith and Pettipas and Bishop Motiuk. We want to help the flock to get to know their shepherds.

Northern bishop

Next week's WCR will endeavour to provide the same type of coverage as Bishop-elect Murray Chatlain is installed as bishop of Mackenzie-Fort Smith replacing the long-serving Bishop Denis Croteau. Our reporter, Ramon Gonzalez, will travel to Yellowknife to bring full details of the installation.

In the meantime, we have not forgotten the two Alberta bishops who have been with us longer than nine months - Bishop Frederick Henry of Calgary and Bishop Luc Bouchard of St. Paul.

The WCR's mandate is to cover the Edmonton Archdiocese. But we believe our readers want to hear about the Church in the rest of Alberta too . . . to the best of our ability to report on it.

This year has been a year of changing leadership. But there is much more to the WCR's coverage than following the leaders. Stay tuned, week by week, to read a full range of coverage about the Church in Alberta and around the world.

- Glen Argan

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