OTTAWA, 21 November 2025 – Today, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV appointed the Most Reverend Stephen A. Hero, Bishop of Prince Albert, as the eighth Archbishop of Edmonton.

He succeeds the Most Reverend Richard Smith, who was appointed Archbishop of Vancouver on 25 February 2025. The Reverend Paul Kavanagh has served as Archdiocesan Administrator in the interim.

Archbishop-elect Hero was born on 19 December 1969, in Lachine, Québec. He earned a Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy) from the Seminary of Christ the King in Mission, British Columbia, in 1994. After further studies in theology at Saint Joseph Seminary in Edmonton, he studied at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome, where he received a Bachelor in Sacred Theology (1998) as well as a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (2000).

On 7 October 1999, he was ordained a transitional deacon for the Archdiocese of Edmonton, leading up to his ordination to the sacred priesthood on 29 June 2000.

He returned to Rome, earning a Licentiate in Liturgical Theology from the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Sant’ Anselmo in 2005.

Between 2000 and 2001, he served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Theresa’s Catholic Church, and from 2001 to 2002, he was Parochial Vicar at Holy Family Catholic Church in Edmonton. In 2001, he also became Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Edmonton. Starting in 2005, he was a member of the formation team at Saint Joseph Seminary and a continuing lecturer at Newman Theological College, specializing in Spirituality, Liturgy, and Sacraments. In 2010, he was appointed Vice-Rector of Saint Joseph Seminary and later served as Rector from 2012 to 2021.

On 25 March 2021, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop-elect Hero as the Bishop of Prince Albert. His episcopal consecration occurred on 11 June 2021.

As a member of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), Archbishop-elect Hero has served on the Episcopal Commission for Doctrine and currently serves on the Episcopal Commission for Liturgy and the Sacraments (English Sector).

The Archdiocese of Edmonton covers 150,000 square kilometres extending from the Rocky Mountains in the west to the Saskatchewan border in the east, and from Didsbury in the south to Mayerthorpe in the north. It comprises 61 parishes with resident priests in cities, towns, rural communities, and First Nations’ areas, along with another 64 parishes and missions without resident clergy.