It was a homecoming for Archbishop Donald Bolen, recently-appointed to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina. The Archbishop visited the Our Lady of Assumption Co-Cathedral in Gravelbourg on November 27. He was born in Gravel颅bourg to the late Joseph and Rose Bolen.
He led mass at the Co-Cathedral with parish priest Rev. Hope Klutsey , Rev. Val颅entine Amobi from Regina and Rev. Joe Strohoffer from Mankota. The cathedral was filled with Gravelbourg鈥檚 parishioners as well as many visitors who came from Lafleche, Mankota, Swift Current, Regina and many other locations.
After the Gospel reading, Bolen gave an insightful homily. He laid out his vi颅sion and goals for the Archdiocese, which are based on Pope Francis鈥� recent direc颅tives. Some of the key points include de颅veloping parishes to utilize the potential of all, fostering dialogue and seeking justice and peace. Bolen will work toward imple颅menting these goals in the Archdiocese.
At the end of the mass, a representa颅tive from the Lafleche parish presented the Archbishop with a peace blanket made by the women of the parish with prayers and love. As the parishioners departed fol颅lowing the service, the choir sung a clos颅ing hymn that had been sung in the parish since 1929.
The Archbishop was among many friends and family this day. 鈥淎s I look around today I see my teachers, neigh颅bours and relatives,鈥� he stated in his clos颅ing address. The parish was delighted to be hosting the Archbishop and they are very proud of his achievements. He knew many of those attending personally. Visitations by an archbishop do not happen often, but Bolen鈥檚 aim is to be able to visit more parishes in his large archdiocese. A lunch颅eon followed at the community hall next to the cathedral. The lunch was prepared and served by cathedral parishioners. Bolen was ordained as a priest in 1991. He went on to study at universi颅ties in Regina, Ottawa and Oxford. Most recently, he had been serving as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sas颅katoon since 2009 until July 11 when he was appointed Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina. He was installed at Regina鈥檚 Holy Rosary Cath颅edral on October 14.
