Today, His Holiness Pope Francis appointed the Most Reverend Kenneth Nowakowski, currently Eparchial Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of New Westminster, as Eparchial Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London, an area that includes Ukrainian Catholics in England, Wales and Scotland. Pope Francis likewise appointed the Most Reverend David Motiuk, Eparchial Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton, Apostolic Administrator "sede vacante" of the Eparchy of New Westminster.

From 11 to 16 January 2020, the Most Reverend Richard Gagnon, Archbishop of Winnipeg and President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), will participate in the annual meeting of the Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church in the Holy Land. Archbishop Gagnon will be accompanied by Mr. Carl Hétu, National Director for Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) Canada. This annual international gathering involves representatives from Conferences of Bishops in Europe and North America who meet with the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land (AOCTS) to promote dialogue and peace in the region.

The annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will be celebrated 18 to 25 January 2020 on the theme "They showed us unusual kindness" (Acts 28:2). The resources in English and in French can be freely downloaded from the Canadian website for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The theme and biblical texts for this annual Week of Prayer are jointly prepared by the Holy See's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches. The thematic introduction to the 2020 materials comes from Churches in Malta. National and regional Councils of Churches adapt the resources for their local context. The resources for Canada are produced by an ecumenical writing team coordinated by the Commission on Faith and Witness of the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC). The CCCB is a member of the CCC and is also represented on its Canadian writing team for the Week of Prayer.

Link to Canadian resources
Link to international version of the resources

The Canadian Catholic television network Salt + Light has released its special broadcasting schedule for Christmas and New Year celebrations to be presided by Pope Francis. Visit Salt + Light's website at https://saltandlighttv.org/advent/ for the complete schedule.

On 12 December 2019, the Holy See published the Holy Father's Message for the 53nd World Day of Peace, which will be celebrated on 1 January 2020. The theme chosen by Pope Francis is "Peace as a Journey of Hope: Dialogue, Reconciliation and Ecological Conversion". In his message, the Holy Father recalls: "Setting out on a journey of peace is a challenge made all the more complex because the interests at stake in relationships between people, communities and nations, are numerous and conflicting. We must first appeal to people's moral conscience and to personal and political will. Peace emerges from the depths of the human heart and political will must always be renewed, so that new ways can be found to reconcile and unite individuals and communities."

Link to the Message

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) continues to post possible homily ideas and prayers of the faithful to help link the Sunday liturgy with the national pastoral initiative for life and family. The proposed texts for the month of January 2020 include suggestions from the Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God, 1 January, to the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, 26 January. As usual, the suggestions for homilies and prayers can be easily adapted for family prayer, as well as for personal prayer or for use with other groups or organizations. The texts for the month of January are available on the special Life and Family webpage, under the section "Documents and activities proposed by the CCCB".

Ottawa – Today, His Holiness Pope Francis appointed the Most Reverend Wayne Kirkpatrick Bishop of the Diocese of Antigonish. At the time of his appointment, Bishop Kirkpatrick was serving as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Toronto. Bishop Kirkpatrick will assume the pastoral governance of the Diocese from the Most Reverend Brian Dunn, who currently serves as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Antigonish and Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth.

On 12 December 2019, Pope Francis received the delegation from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) in a private audience. The delegation is led by the Most Reverend Richard Gagnon, Archbishop of Winnipeg and CCCB President, and also includes the Most Reverend Raymond Poisson, Bishop of Saint-Jérôme and CCCB Vice President, and Monsignor Frank Leo, Jr., CCCB General Secretary. The CCCB Presidency will conclude its annual visit with a number of dicasteries of the Holy See on 20 December.

Ottawa – The Most Reverend André Gaumond, Archbishop Emeritus of the Archdiocese of Sherbrooke, died on 14 December 2019.

Archbishop Gaumond was born on 3 June 1936 in Saint-Thomas de Montmagny, Québec, and ordained a priest for the Diocese of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière on 27 May 1961 following the completion of his theological formation at Saint Paul Seminary, Ottawa. After pursuing further studies in philosophy at the Institut catholique de Paris in France, he taught apologetics and philosophy at the Collège Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière (1961-1969). Later he taught philosophy and then served in the office of adult education (Service de l'éducation aux adultes) at the Cégep de La Pocatière (1969-1980). Before being named Bishop, he served as the seasonal pastor at Lac-Trois-Saumons (1975-1981) and as pastor for the communities of Saint-Pamphile and Saint-Omer (1981-1985). On 31 May 1985, he was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière and was ordained Bishop on 15 August 1985. On 16 February 1995, he was named Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Sherbrooke, and succeeded as Archbishop of Sherbrooke on 1 July 1996, where he served for 15 years until Pope Benedict XVI accepted his resignation 26 July 2011 upon his reaching the age of 75, as required by the Code of Canon Law.

A congratulatory letter from the Most Rev. Richard Gagnon, Archbishop of Winnipeg and President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), was addressed to Pope Francis on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Holy Father's ordination to the priesthood.

Letter to Pope Francis

Toronto - The Anglican Roman Catholic Bishops' Dialogue of Canada (ARC-B) held its most recent meeting in the Toronto area from the 27th-29th of November, 2019. The annual meeting facilitates opportunities for the Anglican and Roman Catholic Bishops to share, learn, and discuss about their respective pastoral activities, update one another on the news from our churches, and further the aims of Christian unity in Canada. The Bishops specifically discussed issues relating to ecumenism, freedom of religion and conscience in Canadian society, interfaith partnerships, and various challenges and opportunities in chaplaincy ministry in military, corrections, and medical contexts. The ARC-B members were also joined for part of the meeting by the Roman Catholic and Anglican co-chairs of the Anglican-Roman Catholic theological dialogue of Canada (ARC) to discuss ARC's current focus on the operations of synodical consultation and decision making in the two traditions. For several years now, both ARC-B and ARC have worked closely with one another, mutually enriching one another's work and reflections.

Montreal – The national bilateral dialogue between the Canadian Rabbinic Caucus (CRC) and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) met for its biannual meeting 2-3 December 2019, hosted at the Villa Saint Martin in Pierrefonds, QC. The dialogue focused on questions relating to death and its ritual observance from the perspective of the Catholic and Jewish traditions. The three main areas of focus were: reflections on Scriptural texts relating to death and burial, ritual and liturgical responses to death and burial and the pastoral issues and approaches pertaining to death and burial in our modern context. The dialogue also received a presentation by one of its members who presented at the international conference held in Rome on the topic "Jesus and the Pharisees" sponsored by the Pontifical Biblical Institute 7-9 May, 2019. The dialogue is set to meet again in the Spring of 2020.