Pastoral Visit by Msgr. Alojz Uran

Auxilliary Archbishop of Ljubljana

During the days of March 26-30, 2001, the Slovenian community of Winnipeg and surrounding areas were honored to have for our Lenten Mission, Bishop Alojz Uran from Ljubljana, Slovenia

His Grace arrived on Monday, March 26 and was greeted by the church council of Our Lady of Lourdes parish. We found out very quickly that our visitor was a very special guest. The stories that flowed that evening had us thinking at how wonderful these types of visits are. At times we were crying from laughter, as we all shared stories and humor.

The actual Lenten Mission began Tuesday, March 27 and continued until Thursday, March 29. The Bishop was very pleased to be in Winnipeg and the people of our community responded to him. The Bishop delivered Mass in Slovenian, but delivered his homily in both Slovenian and English. He did a fabulous job of preparing us for Easter.

After the Mission each evening, the community gathered in the church hall for some coffee and cookies. His Grace made it a point to greet and gather with the children of our community first. He had many commemorative cards of his visit to Canada, and by making a game of selecting one, he endeared himself to the children. We talked about Slovenia, learned about the Bishop - of where he was born and raised, and we sang songs. Bishop Uran taught us many new verses of songs we sing!!!

On the Wednesday, a potluck supper was held at the hall and everyone who attended enjoyed themselves. On Thursday, our senior dance group - the Slovenian Dance Ensemble "Triglav", entertained His Grace with dances from Gorenjska and Štajerska. After the dances, we toasted the Bishop with the song "Kol’kor Kapljic".

As Thursday evening wound down, we were all a little sad as we knew the Bishop would be going the next day to continue his Lenten Missions in Toronto and surrounding areas.

We have wonderful memories of this visit, and wish Bishop Uran a wonderful trip home.

A big thank you to Maureen Gimpelj, the President of the Catholic Women’s League and Father Paul Hancko, Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, for all their hard work in making this a very successful event.

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