In the context of the annual Bishop’s Fundraising Gala at Holy Eucharist Cathedral, which was also the farewell event for Bishop Michael who will be enthroned next month as Metropolitan Archbishop in Winnipeg, a longtime priest of the Eparchy was acknowledged and awarded a very special honour.
Father Andriy Werbowy, who celebrates thirty (30) years of priestly ministry this year on 22 December, is presently the parish priest for the three central parishes of Penticton, Grindrod and Vernon. Besides that, Fr. Werbowy is a captain in Canada’s armed forces where he serves as a military chaplain.
With the war raging in Ukraine, military chaplains are an important part of the war effort. The military chaplaincy was established in Ukraine a few years back and since then several priests volunteered to undergo the specialized training and serve the soldiers as their priests at the front. To acknowledge their dedication the Ukrainian Catholic Church established the Military Chaplains Cross that has only been presented to just over two hundred chaplains to date. As Fr. Werbowy has been serving the Lord and His people as a Ukrainian Catholic Priest in various capacities as a parish priest and in eparchial administration for three decades as well as military chaplain for three years in Canada’s reserve armed forces, the Eparchy wanted to honour him and express their gratitude in unique way.
Bishop Michael learned about the special Chaplain’s Cross and appealed to the head chaplain Bishop Bohdan Manyshyn at the Department for Chaplaincy in Ukraine that Fr. Andriy might be considered for such an honour as he is a faithful Ukrainian Catholic priest who is serving as a miliary chaplain and seeing to the spiritual and pastoral needs of soldiers. The appeal went to the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. His Beatitude Sviatoslav not only approved, but issued the decree that was presented to Fr. Werbowy on 14 October 2026. The decree was read in Ukrainian and English by the two deans Fr. Andryi Chornenkyi and Fr. Yuriy Vyshnevskyy.
Before bestowing the cross on Fr. Werbowy, Bishop Michael explained that expressing gratitude to one of our priests in such a way was especially meaningful as a good portion of the clergy conference that brought all the clergy to New Westminster was dedicated to discussing and deciding how the eparchy would celebrate the upcoming year dedicated by the Synod of Bishops to priestly ministry and consecrated life. As the cross was placed over the shoulders of Fr. Andriy, the church erupted into a joyful singing of “Axios” – he is worthy!
