New Auxiliary Bishop appointed for the Archdiocese of Edmonton

(CCCB – Ottawa)… His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI today appointed the Reverend Gregory Bittman as Auxiliary Bishop of Edmonton, Alberta. He will assist the Archbishop of Edmonton, the Most Reverend Richard W. Smith, who is also President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Bishop-Elect Gregory Bittman was born on March 5, 1961, in Edmonton,Alberta. In 1991, he obtained a Master’s of Divinity Degree from Christ the King Seminary in Mission B.C., and in 2009, he obtained a JCL Degree in Canon Law from the Catholic University of America. He was ordained to the priesthood on August 15, 1996. At the time of his appointment to the episcopate, he was serving as Judicial Vicar and Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Edmonton. He was also an Ex-Officio member of the College of Consultors, the Council of Priests, the Priests’ Personnel Committee, the Project Review Board and the Finance Council in the Archdiocese of Edmonton. He has also served as the Spiritual Director to Seminarians over the past few years.

The Archdiocese of Edmonton has 126 parishes and missions, with a Catholic population of 378,545, served by 94 diocesan priests, 84 priests who are members of religious institutes, 20 permanent deacons, 271 religious Sisters and Brothers, and 42 lay pastoral workers.