Pope Francis, hospitalized in a critical condition with double pneumonia, has appointed a new archbishop for Vancouver.
Vancouver’s archdiocese says that the Pope designated Archbishop Richard Smith and accepted the resignation of J. Michael Miller.
According to the Church’s Law, Miller presented his resignation at his 75th birthday in 2021, but he had been asked to remain in office until the arrival of his successor.
Smith, who had been serving as an Edmonton archbishop, was the general coordinator of July 2022 of the Pontiff to Canada, where he apologized for the role of the Roman Catholic Church in the residential schools and then called the abuses indigenous peoples faced A genocide.
In a letter to the members of the Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton, Smith said that he thanks Pope Francis “for the trust he put in me to assume this new mission.”
He said it has been an “extraordinary privilege” to serve as an Edmonton archbishop for almost 18 years.
“In my heart, I particularly appreciate priests, deacons and women and men enshrined with which I enjoyed a nearby collaboration,” he said in the letter.
Smith will remain in office until its formal installation, which will probably take place in May, said Edmonton’s archdiocese.
The Vatican announced the appointment of Smith as Francis, 88, remains in a critical condition despite a slight improvement after 11 days in the hospital.
He was well enough to meet with the Secretary of State of the Vatican to approve new decrees for possible saints and make government decisions.
