Appointments for Ukrainian Eparchies in Canada

Thursday, April 28, 2022

Today, the Holy See announced two new appointments made by His Holiness Pope Francis. The Most Reverend Bryan Joseph Bayda, C.Ss.R., previously the Ukrainian Eparchial Bishop of Saskatoon and Apostolic Administrator of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Toronto and Eastern Canada, was appointed as the Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Toronto and Eastern Canada. Additionally, the Most Reverend Lawrence Huculak, O.S.B.M. has been appointed as Administrator of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon, while remaining Metropolitan Archbishop of Winnipeg for Ukrainian Catholics in Canada.

Bishop Bayda was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in 1961. He holds multiple university degrees, including a Master’s of Divinity, which he completed at St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, in 1987. He was ordained a priest in 1987 and appointed the Ukrainian Eparchial Bishop of Saskatoon in 2008. Bishop Bayda has also served in various other positions and ministries throughout his career. Among these, he was the Director of St. Vladimir’s College in Robin, Manitoba, and the Formation Director of the Major Seminary of the Yorkton Province, Redemptorists.

Metropolitan Huculak was born in Vernon, British Columbia, in 1951. He studied theology at St. Anselm’s University in Rome (1974-1977) and received a Doctorate in Oriental Church Studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome in 1985. He was ordained a priest in 1977 and appointed Eparch of Edmonton, Alberta, in 1977. In 2006. Metropolitan Huculak was appointed as the Ukrainian Metropolitan-Archbishop of Winnipeg. He has also served as a member of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue since 2020 and is a member of the CCCB’s Permanent Council.

Both the Bishop and Archbishop have also served on CCCB Commissions and Committees. Bishop Bayda was a member of the Episcopal Commission for Doctrine (2011-2017) and the Consultor of the Commission for Evangelization and Catechesis (2017-2020). Metropolitan Huculak served on numerous Commissions, from 1998-2020, most recently as a member of the Commission for Doctrine.