Bzdel, Michael

Bzdel, Michael (Mykhailo), b 21 July 1930 in Wishart, Saskatchewan. (Photo: Michael Bzdel.) Ukrainian Catholic archbishop and metropolitan. Educated in Roblin, Manitoba at (the future) Saint Vladimir’s College, he began a novitiate with the Redemptorist Fathers in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. He completed his studies in theology and philosophy in Waterford and Meadowvale, Ontario (1948–55) and was ordained in 1954. His first major assignment was as a parish priest in Roblin (1955–67), where he also taught at Saint Vladimir’s College. He subsequently served in Winnipeg (1967–71), Saskatoon (1972–81), and Yorkton and district (1981–4), with a sabbatical (1971–2) that allowed him to study pastoral counseling at Saint Paul’s University in Ottawa. In 1983–92 he served as Provincial Superior for the Redemptorists’ Yorkton province. Early in 1993 he was ordained as Archbishop of Winnipeg (and ipso facto Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan of Canada). He retired from this position early in 2006.

[This article was updated in 2009.]