Ukrainian Catholic Church
Eastern Christianity took a firm root in Ukraine in 988
when Vladimir, Prince of Kiev, embraced the Christian Faith and was baptized.
Soon afterwards many missionaries from the Byzantine
Empire arrived, having been sent by the Patriarch of
Constantinople to preach the Gospel.
When the Church of Rome and the Church
of Constantinople severed ties with
one another in the 11th century, the Church in Ukraine
gradually followed suit and finally gave up the bonds of unity with Rome. When Ukrainian
Orthodox bishops met at a council in Brest-Litovsk in 1595, several bishops
decided to re-establish communion with Rome.
Guaranteed that their Byzantine tradition and Liturgy would be respected and
recognized by Rome,
they and many priests and lay faithful were re-united with the See of Rome,
while others continued to remain Orthodox.
In the 19th century many Ukrainian Catholics began to immigrate to North
America, bringing their pastors, traditions and liturgy to Canada and the United States. Under Communist
rule, Catholics in Ukraine
were persecuted, with many being imprisoned and murdered; in 1945 all the
Ukrainian Catholic bishops were arrested or killed.
Today the Ukrainian Catholic Church is the largest Eastern Catholic Church,
with about 5 million faithful. It is led by His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk),
Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Galicia. His election was confirmed by Pope Benedict
XVI on 25 March 2011. St. Nicholas Parish History
Our History & Our Faith |