Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg Media

This year, Holy Spirit Seminary in Ottawa welcomes Fr. Michael Kwiatkowski as the new spiritual director. Father Michael comes uniquely qualified and he looks forward to the opportunity to serve in this important capacity. This is a particular sign of hope for Holy Spirit in a year of renewed hopes as the seminary marks 25 years of successful operation. This great optimism is shared by Fr. Michael who has just completed a six-year period of work at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine as a vice-rector. His work, significantly, included heading the spiritual and pastoral life department of the university.

The seminary rector, presently Rev. Fr. Ken Nowakowski, under the guidance of the bishops, is responsible to provide the best possible formation necessary to the seminarians. To assist him is any number of seminary staff, but always among them, a “spiritual director”. The spiritual director is present to oversee and provide direction and encouragement to the seminarians as they make the journey of their overall formation in preparation for ordination and priestly ministry. His interest however, is spiritual growth in particular.

Father Michael was born in Manitoba, mainly grew up in Brandon, but completed his high school education while attending St. Vladimir’s College for four years, which he remembers very fondly. When he approached the late Metropolitan Maxim (Hermaniuk) to enter the seminary, Holy Spirit Seminary did not yet exist and so was sent to the Pontifical Ukrainian Seminary of St. Josaphat in Rome where he completed his formation. After his priestly ordination in 1986, he served at Blessed Virgin Mary parish in Winnipeg for six years with the late Msgr. Roman Dobriansky. “Six years of growth, service and just a wonderful experience with wonderful people”, is how he describes this period. Fr. Michael felt strongly that to realize his priestly ministry more effectively he must have ongoing formation and especially further studies. He petitioned the Metropolitan and was allowed to return to Rome where, in time, he completed a doctorate in Eastern Canon Law at the Pontifical Oriental Institute.

During his doctoral research and after his completion of the degree, Father Michael, had many experiences in pastoral and administrative service within the Church. He served for almost half a year as pastor of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Manchester England in 1994. The parish priest had to leave urgently and Fr. Michael was then visiting an old seminary friend in a neighbouring city. An arrangement between himself and the local Exarch and Metropolitan Michael of Winnipeg had him serving the parish until a new priest would eventually come from Ukraine.

From 1997 until 1999, Fr. Michael served as the Chancellor of the Patriarchal Curia under then Bishop Lubomyr Husar, who was then plenipotentiary auxiliary to the ailing Cardinal Myroslav Ivan (Lubachivsky). Fr. Michael enjoyed this experience as, “a time of new challenges blessed with an abundance of insight that will remain with me throughout my life.”

Fr. Michael first became involved with Lviv’s Theological Academy, which would eventually be established as the Ukrainian Catholic University, as the director of that institution’s first English Summer School in 1995. That year he stayed on in Ukraine for the first semester as a chaplain of students and served in this capacity at different times until his appointment as vice-rector in 2000. He was the initial director of the University’s new licentiate program in which he also taught courses in canon law. His major responsibility, however, was as the director of the pastoral department, which, with a staff of 9 priests, men and women religious and laypeople, sought to provide pastoral care for the university community of students and staff.

During his time in Lviv, Fr. Michael also served as a judge of the Patriarchal Tribunal, which he headed for a period of time after the death of Fr. Joseph Andrijishen (who, by the way, was in fact the first rector of Ottawa’s Holy Spirit Seminary in its first years of operation!). He had various other enriching experiences of service, such as secretary of the newly resurrected Ukrainian Scholarly Theological Society (UBNT) and as chaplain for five years at the Military Academy in Lviv.

Although he very much misses Ukraine, Fr. Michael is happy to be back in Canada for a longer period of time since first leaving nearly fourteen years ago. He is looking forward to sharing his wealth of experience and hopes for a thriving Church in Canada and wherever the Ukrainian Church has spread. Most important, Fr. Michael hopes to stress to the seminary community that all clergy are always growing and striving to deepen their spiritual life and enhance their pastoral practice. He wants to grow and face new challenges and achieve new goals together with the seminarians and staff with which he will be working.

As mention earlier, the ecclesial and academic year begins at Holy Spirit Seminary in Ottawa with signs of hope on the horizon. Besides the new spiritual director, this year marks a quarter century of the work and successes of the first exclusively Ukrainian Catholic house of formation for eparchial clergy that serve in Canada and beyond its borders. The Redemptorist Fathers operated Redeemer House in Toronto for their vocations as well as St. Vladimir’s College - the above-mentioned famous minor seminary for boys in Roblin, which was the seeding ground for many priests and bishops serving in the Church today. However, the bold step taken by Canada’s bishops twenty five years ago has proven to be a risk well worth taking. A number of clergy now actively serving in the Church, either initiated or completed their seminary formation at Holy Spirit. That the seminary is celebrating 25 years, is truly a sign of hope that the Church continues to need and continues to provide clergy to serve the faithful in Canada. We will surely hear much more about our seminary during this jubilee year.

Seminary formation for clergy covers four very important aspects of personal development. These regard the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral qualities of a future priest. The seminarians, therefore, provide for their growth by participating in programs that help them to achieve a full preparedness to eventually work as priests among our faithful in various pastoral capacities. Intellectual development is attained by a full program of philosophical and theological studies in Ottawa’s institutions of higher learning – in particular the Metropolitan Andrew Sheptytsky Institute at St. Paul University. There are a series of in-house courses at the seminary. Pastorally, the candidates for priestly ministry undergo classroom as well as practical studies and an abundance of hands-on experience during the regular studies program. An additional Pastoral Internship Program after completing the theology degree has been designed as a culmination of the formation process. Throughout the seminary program, the seminarian has an ongoing opportunity to enhance his human and spiritual development. This is a responsibility that naturally must rest mainly with the individual, but seminary staff does all that is possible to assist in these areas. The seminarians live a full liturgical program and in a spirit of common and personal prayer. Furthermore, each seminarian must actively develop a spiritual life that any individual needs and each priest certainly needs to live a life dedicated to genuine service in Christ’s Church.

Holy Spirit has had a number of wonderful spiritual directors in the past; both full time, as Fr. Michael will be, as well as auxiliary. This year, Father Michael hopes to encourage the seminarians to seek personal spiritual growth while developing a pastoral spirituality that will be as universal in its outlook as is the experience of the Ukrainian Church throughout the world.

Copyright © 2007 Archeparchy of Winnipeg