# WESTERN BISHOPS HOLD ANNUAL ASSEMBLY IN VICTORIA

- Link: https://nweparchy.ca/2026/02/western-bishops-hold-annual-assembly-in-victoria/
- Published: 2026-02-26T15:08:59-08:00
- Author: Website

The Catholic bishops from across western Canada met in Victoria for their annual
[**Assembly of Western Catholic Bishops**](https://www.cccb.ca/the-catholic-church-in-canada/regional-episcopal-assemblies/dioceses-and-eparchies-filtered-by-regional-episcopal-assembly/?search=&region=west&type=).
This assembly is one of four subdivisions of the [**Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops**](https://www.cccb.ca/)
that gathers the bishops and eparchies/dioceses of Western Canada into specific 
groups to share similar interests and concerns. The other three “[**regions**](https://www.cccb.ca/the-catholic-church-in-canada/regional-episcopal-assemblies/)”
are those for the Atlantic provinces, Quebec and Ontario.

The bishops covered a great number topics that concern the pastoral life of the 
region and which would be of great importance to each of the eparchies/dioceses 
individually. These topics were many, but included: Vocations; Artificial Intelligence;
Higher Education (Catholic Universities and Colleges); Legal Matters (canonical 
and civil); Finances; Insurance; Marriage Encounter; Implementation of Synodality;
Etc. Etc.

One of the items was to discuss and make preliminary plans for the 2027 [**Ad Limina visit**](https://catholicweekly.com.au/qa-with-fr-flader-what-is-an-ad-limina-visit/)
of the bishops to Rome. The visit includes a meeting with the Holy Father, Pope 
Leo and visits to all the of [**Vatican dicasteries** (departments)](https://www.vatican.va/content/romancuria/en.html)
and a pilgrimage to the Tombs of Saint Peter and Saint Paul and to the four major
basilicas. All the bishops of the world strive to make an Ad Limina to Rome every
five years to report on the life of their eparchy/diocese and seek council and spiritual
refreshment. Due to circumstances in the world over the last number of years, the
last time the AWCB made their [ad limina to Rome was almost a decade ago in 2017](https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?q=Assembly+of+Western+Catholic+Bishops&mid=78E4B1F6A32C51C7EC8F78E4B1F6A32C51C7EC8F&churl=https%3a%2f%2fwww.youtube.com%2fchannel%2fUC7oVBYCke8VNKz7c7KtWlkg&FORM=VIRE).
Although the Ad Limina is more than a year away, there are major reports to prepare
and logistics to arrange.

The bishops also engaged in prayer and liturgy – which was usually open to those
parishioners who wanted to attend. One of the “Morning Prayers” was a Lenten “[First Hour](https://mci.archpitt.org/servicebooks/Hours.pdf)”
that was led by the Ukrainian Catholic Bishops. Auxiliary Bishop of Winnipeg, Bishop**
Andriy Rabiy**, had prepared the booklets and led the service in the local church.
Four of the participants were Ukrainian Catholic Bishops from Saskatoon (Bishop **
Michael Smolinski**, CSsR), Edmonton (Bishop **David Motiuk**), New Westminster (
Bishop **Michael Kwiatkowski**), and the above-mentioned representative of the Archeparchy
of Winnipeg. Metropolitan **Lawrence Huculak** of Winnipeg, did not attend the AWCB
this year. At one of Eucharistic Liturgies, the students from a local Catholic School
came to sing. One of the singers was the daughter of Fr. Yuriy Vyshnevskyy, the 
pastor of St. Nicholas Parish in Victoria.

The local host was the Bishop of Victoria, Bishop **Gary Gordon**, who helped the
AWCB staff – especially the President Archbishop **Stephen Hero** and Secretary **
Josée Marr** - to provide a very well-organized conference.

Pray for your bishops and all the bishops of Western Canada (and throughout the 
Church, for that matter!) as they do have so many responsibilities and they do strive
to provide apostolic pastoral leadership to all the faithful of the eparchy/diocese
entrusted to their pastoral care.

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