Catholic Vancouver November 03, 2022
Aside from juggling 3 jobs, no big challenges for new Vicar General
By Terry O'Neill
Archbishop J. Michael Miller has announced that Msgr. Gregory Smith, the pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish in West Vancouver, will become the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s new Vicar General on Dec. 1, replacing Father Gary Franken, who is now Bishop-elect of the diocese of St. Paul in Alberta.
Msgr. Smith is currently the Director of the Permanent Diaconate Office and has previously served the Archdiocese as Episcopal Vicar for Administration, Moderator of the Curia, and Chancellor.
“The experience he brings to his new responsibilities will ensure a smooth transition,” Archbishop Miller said in a statement Nov. 3. “I know you join me in thanking Msgr. Smith for his readiness to accept this unexpected change to his ministry.
“Please pray for him in his new role as you continue asking God to bless Bishop-elect Franken in his even more demanding mission.”
Msgr. Smith told The B.C. Catholic that for the time being he will retain his current duties in addition to those associated with being Vicar General. “I can’t say I see any particular challenges ahead, other than the obvious problems of juggling three jobs —pastor, Permanent Diaconate director , and Vicar General,” he said.
“A number of my parishioners have sent me good wishes, saying ‘Congratulations (I think!)’ They know they’ll be seeing less of me, which I sincerely regret.”
Although Church law equips a Vicar General with considerable authority, the role is almost entirely defined and determined by the diocesan bishop, he said. A Vicar General is the highest administrative officer in a diocese and is able to carry out many of the bishop’s administrative tasks.
“In my new position, I’ll be doing only what Archbishop Miller asks me to do,” he said. “Canon law tells us very broadly what a Vicar General does: he assists the diocesan bishop in the governance of the diocese. It also makes it clear that everything he does is according to the bishop’s direction—he is never to act contrary to the mind of the bishop. This makes things fairly simple for me: I just need to do what I am asked to do.”
Msgr. Smith also noted, “The relationship between a bishop and his Vicar General requires considerable trust and mutual understanding, which is why a vicar’s office ends when a bishop retires or is transferred.”
Archbishop Miller said the priest Msgr. Smith is replacing, Bishop-elect Franken, will become the ninth Vancouver priest to become a bishop, four of whom were appointed in just the past decade. “We can be proud that the Holy Father has found so many worthy successors of the apostles serving in our local Church,” he said.
Also noteworthy is the fact that the majority of the recent appointees were either holding the position of Vicar General of the Archdiocese at the time of their appointment as bishop or had previously held the position. These include Msgr. Richard Gagnon, Father Mark Hagemoen, Msgr. Stephen Jensen, Father Joseph Nguyen, and Father Franken.
Msgr. Smith maintains an engaging blog on which he posts the texts of his homilies. On the Sunday before All Soul’s Day, for example, he urged parishioners to continue praying for the dead, and conceded that he was not saying this only for the sake of others.
“I have some skin in this game, a real personal interest,” he said. “If those to whom I have ministered stop praying for the dead, I’ll be spending a lot more time in purgatory than I want to.”
Archbishop Miller said in his statement that for the time being Msgr. Smith will remain as pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish, where he has served since 2007, and as Director of the Permanent Diaconate Office.