Hundreds of Greater Saskatoon Catholic School students from across the division gathered Oct. 22 for a day of inspiration, training, learning and prayer at an annual leadership conference.

The student leaders were welcomed by Bishop Mark Hagemoen, who presided at Mass during the conference held at the Cathedral of the Holy Family.

Held on the memorial of St. John Paul II, the conference theme was “Called and Chosen.” The junior high delegates from many schools were assured that God has called each of them in a unique way: “With fire in our hearts let us welcome the Holy Spirit!” said the MC introducing celebration of the Eucharist.

“I hope today will be an occasion for you to celebrate God’s call to you and the meaning of being chosen,” said Bishop Hagemeoen, reflecting on the meaning of leadership.

He pointed to the example of the faithful leadership of Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd, who dwells with those he serves, and lays down his life in love. “He does not stay apart from us. He comes right into our human condition, he enters into our life fully, and he walks with us,” said the bishop.

 

The bishop assured the students that he needs their leadership: “we hold each other up.” Leadership is not just about the individual, but it is about the community, and calls forth involvement and engagement grounded in loving concern and care for others and not indifference. He added that “the little things matter …leadership starts in the little things.”

“Each of you has been uniquely called by God,” Hagemoen assured the students. “You are the beloved of God and God has a plan for you. What a starting point!”

“I pray for blessings on this day as you reflect on the call to leadership, and I challenge you — and I challenge myself — to make sure that we define leadership and we know what that means, because leadership has a special meaning in our faith,” he said. “May God bless you as you discover the fullness of what it means to be a leader in the mind and heart of Christ Jesus, the Saviour of the World.”

Bishop Mark Hagemoen visited St. Joseph Seminary in Edmonton Oct. 16-17, connecting with three young men from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon who are studying there, discerning ordination to the priesthood.

Daniel Witzaney is the most recent addition to the diocesan seminarians at St. Joseph Seminary this year joining John Paul Wasan and Mischa Taillon.

St. Joseph Seminary, Edmonton, October 2026: Bishop Mark Hagemeon visits diocesan seminarians (l-r) Daniel Witzaney, Bishop Hagemoen, Mischa Taillon, and John Paul Wasan. (Submitted photo)

 

This year the diocese’s two other seminarias are serving in parishes — Matthew Witzaney at the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Saskatoon, and Huy Le at St. Peter, Unity; St. James, Wilkie; and St. Michael, Tramping Lake.

 

“Preparing the Way: The Church’s Mission for 2033” was the theme of the Fall Congress 2026 in the Roman Catholic Diocese ofSaskatoon Oct. 14.

In addition to keynote presentations by Brett Powell and Eric Myatt of Divine Renovation, the day included this overview about Evangelization provided by Bishop Mark Hagemoen

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Sisters of various congregations and religious orders in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon gathered Oct. 7 for a diocesan celebration honouring their many contributions of faithful witness and service.

Consecrated religious sisters have been a “very strong and essential feature of the life of living the Gospel in our diocese and beyond,” said Bishop Mark Hagemoen in his homily at the Mass that opened the celebration on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Reflecting on the reading from Paul’s letter to the Galatians, the bishop noted the ongoing challenge “of how we live the fullness of the Gospel as we deal with the internal and external realities and pressures of the environment we live in… always remembering the poor and the needy, all of these things as we do them in communion, not in rivalry, but in fidelity to Christ and to the dignity of all who belong to him. That is the great task of ministry.”

Addressing the Sisters, he added: “May I say thank you very much for the way in which you have lived this well.”

“In many ways the faithful of God have looked to the religious communities to show them both a teaching and a pattern of what this looks like in our world today,” Hagemoen said, observing that the work and witness of religious women in consistently proclaiming and modelling Christ is a treasure that continues to bless the lives of the faithful.

During the dinner that followed, Diocese of Saskatoon Catholic Foundation Executive Director Raissa Bugyi said the event was an initiative suggested by the bishop, who in turn said it was a “pleasure and an honour” to have planted the seed for the celebration, appropriately held a few days before Thanksgiving.

The ongoing contributions and far-reaching legacy of religious Sisters is profound, the bishop again stressed in his remarks before the meal, pointing in particular to the work of religious women in Catholic health and education. The many contributions of Sisters in the diocese continues to resonate in the Catholic community, with the impact evident “any time you walk through any of our Catholic hospitals or Catholic schools,” he said.

“There’s so much evidence of the dedication, the work, and the ongoing investment by the religious women of the Saskatoon diocese and beyond,” the bishop affirmed.

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Video of Mass:

 

2026 Bishop’s Annual Appeal – Learn more or donate online at dscf.ca/baa

Dowload PDF of the Bishop’s Letter – LINK

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

As we embark on this year’s Bishop’s Annual Appeal, I invite you to take the opportunity to reflect on our theme: “Called to Respond: Living the Father’s Will” These words remind us of Jesus’s reflection and call to us to live and act in the love of His Father and our Father:

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”(John 15: 9-10)

Pope Leo has just provided us with his first encyclical titled, Magnifica Humanitas (“Our Magnificent Humanity”). The pope is responding to our world marked by restlessness, uncertainty, and increasing concerns about the state of our common humanity in the world, with a message about the profound greatness of our common human dignity. As Pope Leo states,

“There is also the more profound and important level of ontological dignity. This is the dignity that belongs to every human being simply by virtue of existing, of having been willed, created and loved by God. No sin, failure, humiliation or exclusion can diminish the profound value of a human life that God has willed and called into being.”(MH #52).

This dignity is blessed and manifest to one another and to the world as we love and act like God.

The Bishop’s Annual Appeal is not simply a fundraiser. It is a personal and communal act of discipleship and a way by which we participate in the mission of Christ in our world of today. Through the Bishop’s Annual Appeal, that mission becomes visible across our diocese. Your generosity helps support seminarians preparing for priesthood, ministries serving families and youth, outreach to the poor and vulnerable, Indigenous reconciliation initiatives, pastoral care in our parishes, Catholic education and faith formation, and the many works of evangelization that proclaim Christ’s love in our communities.

I therefore invite every parishioner, every family, and every community in our diocese to prayerfully consider how you can support this year’s Bishop’s Annual Appeal. No gift is too small when it is offered with faith and love.

The aim of our appeal is not “to have people giving more”– but rather, “to have more people giving!” …participating and sharing together the work of God’s people in our local faith communities …for our world of today. Thank you for your prayers, your generosity, and your faithful witness to Christ.

May Mary, Mother of the Church, who responded wholeheartedly to God’s call, intercede for us. May she teach us to say with courage and humility: “May it be done to me according to your word.”

I conclude with the words well known to us from St. Francis of Assisi, as we celebrate 2026 as the Year of St. Francis: “Lord, make me a channel of Your peace; Where there is hatred let me bring You love; …Where there is despair, hope; For it is in giving that we receive; and in dying that we are born to eternal life.” (Prayer of St. Francis)

Sincerely in Christ,

Most Reverend Mark A. Hagemoen Bishop of Saskatoon

2026 Video:

Remembering and honouring Residential School Survivors, their families, and communities:

“I again renew my pledge that our diocese will continue to walk a path of reconciliation and healing. This is part of our Gospel call to reconciliation and solidarity. We strive to walk in empathy and friendship as sisters and brothers, always working for justice, hope and healing. Let us all continue to take concrete steps on this journey….” – Saskatoon Bishop Mark Hagemoen

Message from Bishop Mark Hagemoen – (Click here for PDF)

Bishop Mark Hagemoen of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon is one of the Catholic bishops from across Canada gathering in Montreal Sept. 20-25 for an annual CCCB Pleanary Assembly

Media release from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB)

The annual meeting of the Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) began Sept. 21, 2026 in Montreal, with the celebration of the Eucharist, at which CCCB President, Bishop Pierre Goudreault of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, presided.

During the opening proceedings, Bishop Goudreault presented the President’s Annual Report, reviewing the principal activities and achievements of the Episcopal Conference since the 2025 plenary meeting.

Among the developments highlighted were:

• Pope Leo XIV’s gift of 62 cultural artifacts from the Vatican Museums to the CCCB and their subsequent transfer to the National Indigenous Organizations and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, as part of the ongoing journey of healing, reconciliation, and relationship-building between the Catholic Church and Indigenous Peoples;
• the continued implementation of synodality in the Church in Canada;
• the establishment of a national Service for Migrant and Refugee Ministry (Human Mobility); and
• initiatives to strengthen the CCCB’s engagement with the federal government.

The Plenary Assembly also approved a letter to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, signed by Goudreault on behalf of the Bishops present. In the letter, the bishops ask for the Holy Father’s prayers as they undertake their common discernment and consider the pastoral priorities that will guide the work of the Conference in the coming year.

The letter also reflects on a number of matters facing the Church and Canadian society, including synodality, human dignity, artificial intelligence, migration, the sacred liturgy, and the Church’s responsibility toward victims and survivors of sexual abuse.

CCCB President’s Annual Report – LINK
Letter to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV – LINK

The CCCB Plenary Assembly continues its annual meeting in Montreal through Friday, Sept. 25.