Youngest Canadian bishop consecrated in Winnipeg (06/30/96)

Youngest Canadian bishop consecrated in Winnipeg

by Frank Guly and Christopher Guly

WINNIPEG - Bishop Stefan Soroka says he had "a lump in his throat" and was filled with emotion when Ukrainian Catholic Archbishop-Metropolitan Michael Bzdel led him around the altar at Winnipeg's Ss. Vladimir and Olga Cathedral.

Kissing the altar's four corners, as part of his June 13 consecration ceremony as the archeparchy's new auxiliary bishop, brought home the "awesomeness" of the moment, said the 44-year-old cleric, who grew up in the city's multicultural North End.

"It was a very humbling experience," said Bishop Soroka, who especially noted the moment during the divine liturgy when his three consecrators asked him questions about his faith based on the Nicene creed. "I thought, 'Gulp, this is really happening.'"

When Metropolitan Bzdel, Saskatoon's Bishop Cornelius Pasichny and Philadel-phia's Auxiliary Bishop Walter Paska conferred episcopal ordination on him, Bishop Soroka became auxiliary to the Canadian metropolitanate and Canada's seventh Ukrainian Catholic bishop.

He is also the country's youngest Catholic bishop; Ottawa's Latin-rite Auxiliary Bishop Fred Colli recently turned 47. Appropriately, Bishop Soroka is valued as a strong link to the Winnipeg archeparchy's young people.

"The youth have felt Bishop Stefan's humor, hugs and hospitality," said Virginia Peristy, who belongs to Bishop Soroka's former Winnipeg parish, St. Anne's, with her husband, Don. "As parents, we are grateful to him for the spiritual impression and guidance he has made with our children and ourselves."

Pharmacist Myron Kurjewicz, who grew up with the new bishop, said Bishop Soroka's "robust, towering stature is minuscule when compared [with] his big, warm and disarming smile. His kindness, understanding and empathy for his fellow man are several of his many qualities we all strive for."

That reputation no doubt helped fill the cathedral - despite sweltering temperatures over 85 degrees - with a crowd of close to 1,400 people who later attended a wine-and-cheese reception.

Most of North America's Ukrainian Catholic bishops, including Archbishop-Metropolitan Stephen Sulyk of Philadelphia and Toronto's Isidore Borecky (Canada's oldest, active bishop at 84), were in attendance, along with Winnipeg's two Latin-rite archbishops, Leonard Wall and Antoine Hacault, and Metropolitan Wasyly Fedak of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada.

Auxiliary Bishop Julian Gbur of the Lviv Archeparchy represented Cardinal Myroslav Lubachivsky, primate of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Each of the three bishop-consecrators held special significance in Bishop Soroka's life. Archbishop Bzdel is the hierarch whom he will assist as auxiliary bishop; Bishop Pasichny was pastor of the Basilian St. Nicholas Church where the new bishop once belonged; and Bishop Paska was rector of St. Josaphat Seminary in Washington, where he was a student.

Bishop Paska replaced retired Canadian Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk, who died on May 3, as one of the co-consecrators. It was Metropolitan Hermaniuk who had ordained Bishop Soroka exactly 14 years earlier to the day on June 13, in Ss. Vladimir and Olga Cathedral.

In his remarks following the consecration ceremony, Bishop Soroka credited the recently deceased archbishop and Bishop Paska for encouraging him to pursue his academic studies.

After receiving his bachelor's degree in social work from the University of Manitoba in 1973, the Winnipeg-born bishop worked for the Manitoba government's probation services for six years. During that time, he earned a master's degree in social work at the same university - specializing in group therapy for incarcerated sex offenders.

In 1979, Bishop Soroka enrolled in St. Josaphat Seminary, where he studied sacred theology at the Catholic University of America and obtained a baccalaureate in 1982. Three years later, the new bishop earned a doctorate in social work there after successfully defending his thesis on "The Relationship between Organizational Stressors and Priests' Perception of Stress."

Bishop Soroka returned to Winnipeg in 1985, when he was appointed vice-chancellor of the Winnipeg Archeparchy; he became chancellor in 1994.

Now, in addition to serving as Metropolitan Bzdel's right-hand man, Bishop Soroka will serve as the archeparchial vicar-general. His work has already begun.

The day following his episcopal ordination, Bishop Soroka met with the visiting Ukrainian Catholic bishops. In July, he heads for the Vatican, where he will participate in the 400th anniversary celebrations of the Union of Brest, which united the Ukrainian Church with Rome, and will meet with Pope John Paul II.

Bishop Soroka also said he plans to spend most of the summer visiting parishes in the archeparchy. "I don't want to just go out and celebrate the liturgy and attend a banquet afterward," he explained. "I would like to spend a few days in a community meeting with the various parish committees." The Archeparchy of Winnipeg includes 16 Winnipeg and about 50 rural Manitoba churches.

In the meantime, Bishop Soroka said he's still "on a high" from the June 13 celebrations. Still, there's one adjustment Winnipeg's new Ukrainian Catholic bishop will have to make. "I'm not used to wearing the [episcopal, right-hand] ring. It really hurts when someone gives you a handshake."

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