Bishop Smith has been deeply involved with reconciliation with indigenous peoples of Canada. Pope Benedict XVI appointed him to the Metropolitan See of Edmonton, on March 22, 2007.
Newsroom (30/10/2022 11:45 AM, Gaudium Press) — Archbishop Richard W. Smith was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on April 28, 1959.
He studied at St. Mary’s University and the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax. Ordained to the priesthood on May 23, 1987, he pursued further studies in Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and earned a Licence in 1993 and a Doctorate in 1998.
After fruitful years of ministry in the Archdiocese of Halifax, he was appointed Bishop of Pembroke on April 27, 2002, and ordained to the episcopate on June 18, 2002. Pope Benedict XVI, on March 22, 2007, appointed him to the Metropolitan See of Edmonton.
Archbishop Richard Smith was formally installed as the seventh Archbishop of Edmonton on Tuesday, May 1, 2007, Feast of St. Joseph the Worker.
He serves as President of the Catholic Bishops of Alberta and the Northwest Territories and is past president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
In the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, he has been a member of the English Sector Commission for Christian Education since 2003, and is its current Chairman.[2] He is also the national spiritual advisor of the Catholic Women’s League of Canada, and President of the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops.
In January 2016, Smith visited the Pallotine Province of the Assumption of the B.V.M. in Bangalore, India. Eight Pallotines of the province serve in the Archdiocese of Edmonton.
His Motto is : Fiat Voluntas Tua
These words, Latin for “Thy will be done,” taken from the Lord’s Prayer (cf. Matthew 6.10), give expression to that disposition of heart, which is the foundation of Christian discipleship. Jesus Christ, the Son of God made flesh for our salvation, gave his fiat to the will of the Father when He came into the world (cf. Hebrews 10.7). Hence, the disciple of Jesus is called to give, in faith and obedience, his or her fiat to the divine plan of salvation in Christ and to all that the Father wills for its accomplishment, as did Mary, the mother of our Lord (cf. Luke 1.38).
Bishop Smith has been deeply involved with reconciliation with indigenous peoples of Canada and below is a link to an interview with Chief Littlechild and Archbishop Smith on Reconciliation:
By Raju Hasmukh/Gaudium press
