New bishop named for Canadian Great North

(Vatican Radio) The northernmost and most extensive Canadian diocese has a new bishop. Pope Francis named Fr. Mark Hagemoen to head the Diocese of Mackenzie-Fort Smith. He succeeds Archbishop Murray Chatlain, who was appointed to the Archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas last December.

At the time of his appointment, Bishop-elect Hagemoen was president of Corpus Christi College and principal of St. Mark’s College in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was born in Vancouver in 1961, and ordained to the priesthood in 1990. He earned a doctorate from Trinity Western University in 2007. He served the Archdiocese of Vancouver as an assistant pastor, pastor, diocesan director of youth ministry, and episcopal vicar of diocesan pastoral services, before taking on his most recent administrative role in the education sector.

The Diocese of MacKenzie-Fort Smith, to which Bishop-elect Hagemoen, was named was created in 1967. Its territory takes in the entire Northwest Territory and Nunavut and extends into the Arctic Circle, spanning more than 1.5 million square-kilometers. The entire population is 49,150, about 27,000 are Catholic.