City’s new archbishop returns home
Calls for broadly based dialogue on the social issues of the day
Regina’s new Roman Catholic archbishop-elect is Donald Bolen, a graduate of Campion College at the University of Regina who’s been bishop of the diocese of Saskatoon since late 2009.
“Nice to be coming home — but difficult to be leaving Saskatoon, a wonderful diocese with a great group of clergy, a very active laity; we had many good initiatives going. But it’s part of the discernment of the church,” he said.
The Regina archdiocese’s previous archbishop, Daniel Bohan, died in January. Since then, Rev. Lorne Crozon has been acting administrator — and will continue to be until Bolen is formally installed, likely in October.
“Pope Francis calls for a culture of encounter: How do we create a church that’s truly attentive to its own members, but also a dialogue with a broader culture, with other Christian communities and other religious traditions and a dialogue on the social questions of the day,” Bolen said Monday.
The Truth and Reconcilation Commission “in a sense brought us all back to school, learning to tell the story of our nation in a different way,” he said, noting its final report didn’t cut all ties with the Christian churches that ran residential school, but instead “summoned us to a conversion.”
“I think that’s a real open door and an invitation to learn anew how to walk with indigenous people, how to stand in solidarity and how to build a better future.”
Born in Gravelbourg in 1961, Bolen holds an honours B.A. in religious studies from the U of R, together with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in theology and a licentiate from Saint Paul University in Ottawa.
Ordained in 1991, he did postgraduate studies in theology at the University of Oxford, also serving as priest at several parishes in the Regina archdiocese and teaching at Campion College. From 2001 to 2008, he was in Rome, specializing in relations between the Catholic, Methodist and Anglican churches.
As bishop of Saskatoon, Bolen has been in the news frequently, taking part in Saskatoon’s 36-hour homeless challenge and stating the Catholic Church has a “moral obligation” to come up with the $21 million it promised survivors of residential schools it oversaw. He’s also spoken out on the need to protect gay, lesbian and transgender students regardless of what governments require and on the ethical issues raised by the recent Supreme Court decision on physician-assisted suicide.