Rev. Stephen Chmilar ordained as eparch for Toronto and Eastern Canada (08/10/03)

Rev. Stephen Chmilar ordained as eparch for Toronto and Eastern Canada

by Andrij Kudla Wynnyckyj

TORONTO - The Rev. Stephen V. Chmilar, 58, was ordained as the Ukrainian Catholic Church's eparch of Toronto and Eastern Canada on July 23 at the Church of the Holy Dormition in Mississauga, Ontario. Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, recognized within the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UCC) as its patriarch, traveled from his chancery in Lviv via Rome to lead the ceremony.

Bishop-elect Chmilar succeeded Bishop Cornelius J. Pasichny OSBM, who retired earlier this year the age of 75, after heading the eparchy since 1998. Having received nominations from the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II announced on May 3 that the Rev. Chmilar had been named as the next eparch of Toronto.

Co-consecrators joining Cardinal Husar at the hierarchical divine liturgy were Archbishop Luigi Ventura, apostolic nuncio of Canada, Metropolitan-Archbishop Michael Bzdel, CSsR., metropolitan of Ukrainian Catholics in Canada, and Bishop Pasichny.

A reception at the Mississauga Convention Center after the service was attended by over 800 clergy, faithful and well-wishers.

Bishop Chmilar was born on May 24, 1945, in Lamont, Alberta, to the late Steve Chmilar and late Alexandra Osinchuk, both of whom immigrated from western Ukraine. He has one brother and three sisters. The bishop-elect studied at the University of Ottawa (1966-1968), graduating with a B.A. in philosophy, then studied theology at St. Paul University in Ottawa, obtaining a B.A. in 1972. Having joined the Order of St. Basil the Great in 1960 he was ordained a priest by Edmonton Bishop Neil Savaryn, OSBM, on June 11, 1972.

The newly ordained cleric then returned to his home province, where he served as pastor of parishes in Chipman, Borschiw and Mundare until 1973. The Rev. Chmilar was associate pastor for the Church of St. Basil the Great in Edmonton in 1973-1975 and 1978-1982, with a three-year spell at the St. John the Baptist Parish in Ottawa, Ontario, in between.

After a two-year stint at St. Mary's Parish in Vancouver, the Rev. Chmilar was sent across the border to serve at the Church of the Transfiguration of our Lord in Denver until 1988, then on to Buffalo, N.Y,. where he was associate pastor at St. Nicholas Church until 1990.

The 1990s marked the peripatetic priest's return to Canada, throughout which he was pastor for St. Nicholas' parishioners in Hamilton, Ontario. In 1991 he was incardinated (formally accepted) into the Toronto Eparchy and released from his vows as a Basilian. In 2000 the Rev. Chmilar was appointed by Bishop Pasichny to the post he held at the time of his nomination as eparch, pastor of Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Mississauga.

During his five years in Mundare the Rev. Chmilar was a spiritual director to the Novitiate of the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate. While in Ottawa he served on the Ukrainian Marriage Tribunal, and during his service in Edmonton worked in a similar capacity. The Canadian-born clergyman directed Ukrainian Catholic summer camps for children in the Ottawa, Edmonton and Vancouver areas for over a decade.

Bishop Chmilar is certainly a known quantity in the Toronto Eparchy's administration. Bishop Pasichny appointed him chancellor in 1998, soon after his own ordination as eparch. The Rev. Chmilar has also since joined the eparchy's Presbyteral Council, and is a member of its College of Consultors.

According to the official press release announcing Bishop Chmilar's elevation to his new status, the Eparchy of Toronto and Eastern Canada has 89 diocesan priests, nine religious priests and 29 religious (including both women and men in addition to religious priests), serving a Ukrainian Catholic population of 41,010 in 76 parishes and missions.

In its issue for the week of May 12, the Alberta-based online magazine The Western Catholic Reporter (WCR) carried an article about Bishop Chmilar's impending ordination. WCR Staff Writer Renato Gandia reported that 16 of Canada's Ukrainian Catholic bishops were born in the country - 15 of whom came from its western provinces, and 11 from British Columbia and Alberta.

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