How an ‘attractive appointment’ in Canada turned into an ‘intimidating assignment’ for Apostolic Nuncio

As lunch companions go, an archbishop who has been serving in the Vatican’s diplomatic service for 40 years is in high demand.

So when Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič joined priests of the Archdiocese of Vancouver for lunch, he was the centre of attention. And so was one topic: Ukraine.

The Slovenian-born papal diplomat’s lengthy career has included assignments in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. When he was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Canada in 2021, he was serving as the Holy See’s permanent observer at the United Nations in Geneva and the World Trade Organization, as well as its representative to the International Organization for Migration.

He spent 15 years in the global hotspot of Russia and Ukraine, but as the Pope’s representative to Canada there is little he can say officially about the conflict. In an interview, he offered only a few personal comments on the situation.

As with any war, there will have to be a negotiated peace, he said. “It’s a bad, bad situation, and we will need major, major … capacity to find as much as possible a solution that’s going to bring stability to the region.”

On the question of whether the solution to the conflict might involve a religious solution or intervention, he answered that “many countries and organizations are working for peace,” but that “it is impossible to predict how it will finally be achieved.”

The diplomacy that Archbishop Jurkovič brings to the subject of the Ukraine-Russia war has served him well in Canada, a country with its own political complexities. After assignments in Ukraine and Russia, as well as Korea and Colombia, a posting in Canada would seem to be a walk in the park.

“Canada is always a very attractive appointment, very prestigious,” he said. The country’s sheer size alone means “the visibility of Canada in Rome was always very, very big.”

Yet Canada became an intimidating assignment. “I will tell you, I was not that young when I was appointed to be nuncio in Canada.” He was 68.

“To start again in a big country, a big Church, with many dioceses … for me it was quite a challenge.”

It was also the outset of the Kamloops residential school controversy when he arrived in 2021. Three years later, he can look back on the turmoil he walked into and describe it as a time with many challenges and many consolations.

He knew that Canada was a complex nation, with nearly 60 dioceses as well as more than a dozen eparchies, exarchates, and ordinariates. He also had some familiarity with the country’s residential school history. But nothing prepared him for the crisis unfolding as he arrived.

“I was quite shocked to see the flag on half mast and staying that way for many months. You know, for the first time in my life,” he said.

As the nation reeled from allegations of genocide and mass graves, Archbishop Jurkovič was “shocked by the situation,” he said. “With very forceful but generic accusations blaming the Catholic Church as a whole.”

He tried to process what was going on and the “different interpretations of what happened, what can be documented, what cannot be documented.”

Looking back, he admits, “For me it was, I think, not an easy moment.”

It didn’t get any easier. “Then, all of a sudden, on the agenda was the visit of the Pope. Again, as a newcomer to have to deal with such an important event as the visit of the Pope, it was another additional challenge.”

But as events unfolded and the Papal visit took place, something happened. “All of a sudden I saw that it was for me a very blessed period,” he said.

Encountering blessings after a time of pain is not something Archbishop Jurkovič is unfamiliar with. “Typically, when I have different experiences, if the beginning is a little bit harsh and difficult, then the follow-up is usually full of enjoyment, full of satisfaction, and this is what I’m experiencing now less than three years since I arrived.”

Acceptance had led to an Easter experience arising from a Good Friday cross. “I think it is giving me a second youth by forcing me to do things that I wouldn’t be ready to do in other places. So, I’m happy.”

It was with that same spirit of acceptance, which he describes as something like a “religious attitude,” that he received news of his appointment to Canada.

For Archbishop Jurkovič, there’s only one way to respond to an invitation from the Pope. “Do I say, ‘90 per cent (yes)’ or ‘95 per cent’?” he asks rhetorically.

“I said ‘100 per cent yes,’ not waiting one day or two days or three days to answer,” he said. “I answered within 10 minutes.”

Such an attitude of acceptance has benefited him wherever he has been assigned. “From my personal experience, the countries where I lived – I was always sent for one or another reason – I think all these appointments were in the end beneficial to me personally. I would say even say psychologically, physically, intellectually.”

As the residential school debate unfolded, however, he was forced to take a cautious and nuanced position.

“In a country like Canada, with (more than) 70 bishops and so many resources, the Apostolic Nuncio has to play a role that is respectful of all these institutions and all this human and intellectual capacity, so I trusted the judgment of the bishops conference and their collaborators.”

In fact, he said, “At a certain point, I was also avoiding it.” For the Pope’s representative to bring a different interpretation of events to a situation that was still developing “would not be reasonable,” he said.

“I was trying to stay a little bit away from the public commentaries. But I was following very attentively, especially because, knowing the sensibility of the Holy Father … the Indigenous question for the Holy Father is a major, major, important subject. This is why he opted to come to Canada and say no to some other trips.”

The Pope’s visit to Canada, making several stops across the country, “was a demanding trip, three or four days in a moment of physical difficulty for the Holy Father,” the Archbishop said.

“The Catholic Church is not interested in avoiding the truth,” he said. “This was exactly the attitude of the Pope. He came (to Canada) with a very special mindset, and this is why he brought some kind of pacification of the subject that he addressed in his way and with his personality and his convictions.”

The Archbishop acknowledges that different people can assess the Pope’s visit differently, but from his perspective it was a positive development in the residential school story because it brought people together, starting with Indigenous delegations’ visit to the Vatican. “There was a construction of goodwill, touching on subjects that were really tough, listening to the people who were bringing first-hand (their stories).”

Suddenly taking on a more passionate tone, the Nuncio addresses Indigenous relations in a historical context. Canada has a long history of “hundreds of years, thousands of years, and we have to live (together),” he said. “This is our part, it’s our history, our nation, our people. We should not now decide, ‘Today we are going to judge, and it’s finished.’ This must continue.”

The key is to “bring more light to everything,” he said. “We shouldn’t be afraid of any discussion,” since today’s new findings will contribute to future understanding.

“If somebody has solid data, please bring it, and let’s add everything together and keep it for the future, and we will certainly make new conclusions and new judgments, and you will have a history of the country that will tell us a distant perspective of many events that are still difficult to judge thoroughly today.”

Archbishop Jurkovič points out that “Walking Together” was the theme of the Pope’s visit. “It’s really a good title now. It’s exactly what is going to stay with us for years to come.” His hope is that Canadians will take just such an approach toward “building one country, one society” with harmony and prosperity.

Canada’s bishops also have a role and “a particular freedom” to contribute to the story by listening, correcting, and adding context where necessary. “I would underscore exactly that good, hard data will avoid many problems later on.”

He offers a concrete example of the need for context and correction from his time working with the UN in Switzerland.

“I think the biggest ‘fake news,’ before anybody invented the term fake news – the bigger fake news was not knowing the real facts.”

While serving as the Vatican’s representative on migration, he became frustrated by discussions of immigration trends that ignored the importance of emigration data that indicates an average of 10 per cent of any nation’s population lives outside the country’s borders.

“Immigration is a phenomenon of coming and going,” he said. “But we want to speak only about people coming as a big problem of migration.”

For Archbishop Jurkovič, the worst thing possible in a serious discussion is not having all the information – the “real data” – that offers balance to prevailing public perceptions.

Our interview ended with two quick questions:

First, what is the biggest challenge facing Canadian Catholics?

Without hesitation, he says demography.

“The challenge of Canadian Catholics is the typical challenge of the developed world. It’s linked to many things, and the first and most dramatic thing is the demographic situation.”

He points out that demographic decline is affecting the entire Western world and beyond, including China. Catholics have to continue working “with courage and optimism and enthusiasm” in “our society that is very much changed” to find answers to new challenges.

“Big cultural shifts are going on, but this is a challenge that we have to face today, as it was necessary to face in other times.”

He finds reason for optimism in a number of areas, including the priests he met with in Vancouver. “I was quite impressed by the number and variety of priests and new priests that you have here in the Archdiocese. I think the Archdiocese is ready to face the future.”

Finally, the nuncio stickhandled the most difficult topic of the interview: the next Archbishop of Vancouver.

When Archbishop Miller reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 in 2021 (the same year Archbishop Jurkovič arrived), Pope Francis asked him to remain for three more years. Those three years run out this summer.

Asked whether he had any news to share, the nuncio responded in diplomatic fashion.

“That is in due time. The Archbishop has been incredibly successful, and what I saw today is just confirming it. His mission here was extremely successful, positive, and was inspiring for many others.”

Share your thoughts and contribute to the ongoing conversation by sending us a Letter to the Editor.