Pope Francis has appointed Father Wiesław Śpiewak CR as the new ordinary bishop of the Diocese of Hamilton in Bermuda.
He will replace Bishop Robert Kurtz CR in pastoral service. This is an extremely important historical moment, as he is the first bishop from the Polish Province of the Resurrectionists.
To Father Wiesław – for whom a new stage of service in the Church begins with this nomination – we wish that, strengthened by the gifts of the Risen Lord, he may joyfully proclaim the love of God the Father to people, accompany them on the paths of faith, and strengthen them in hope.
The Bishop-elect is 52 years old and comes from the Parish of the Resurrection of the Lord in Wola Duchacka, Krakow. He completed philosophy at the Theological Institute of the Missionary Fathers in Krakow, and then theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He received his priestly ordination in Krakow on May 19, 1990. Father Wiesław Śpiewak has rich and diverse priestly experience. After receiving ordination, he worked for two years as vice-rector at the Lower Seminary in Poznań, then served as provincial secretary and vocation pastor. He continued his studies in spiritual theology at the Pontifical Salesian University. In 1997, he was appointed by the Superior General as postulator in canonization processes. While performing the duties of postulator, he simultaneously worked as parish priest of St. Mary Magdalene in Capranica Prenestina, in the Diocese of Palestrina. Elected by the Community as provincial, he held this office for two terms until May 30, 2015. Since 2013, he has been a member of the consult of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men's Orders in Poland.
The episcopal consecration of Father Wiesław will take place on October 1, 2015, in Hamilton, on the memorial of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, the patroness of the Diocese and its cathedral.
The Hamilton Diocese, which covers the small archipelago of Bermuda, was established on February 19, 1953, by the decision of Pope Pius XII as an apostolic prefecture, by separating Bermuda from the Canadian Archdiocese of Halifax. Three years later, it was elevated to the rank of apostolic vicariate, and on June 12, 1967, it was transformed into a full-fledged diocese.
