Between Roman Universalism and National Consciousness The Collegio Ruteno in Rome was founded, in 1897, to educate Ruthenian-Ukrainian seminarians from Austrian Galicia in a Catholic universalist spirit (Romanitas). The idea to create a separate College was the imitative of the Metropolitan of Lviv, Cardinal Sylvester Sembratovych, himself a Roman alumnus. Seminary reform was key to his program of tempering Josephist and pro-Russian attitudes among his clergy and strengthening their Catholic loyalties. The Ruthenian College eventually fulfilled its purpose, but its early years ..read more

  Archival research can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. But, along the way, you find some fascinating and even disturbing things of great significance, which you we not seeking.  My field of research is Ukrainian oriented, but Ukraine's story is part of a larger narrative and is interconnected with Polish, Austrian, Russian, and German history. A better understanding of the former can only be had by grasping its context upon the backdrop of the others.  I used to wonder what the fuss was about in Poland about Auschwitz and why it was considered a memorial for Poles a ..read more

Savaryn by Bucmaniuk Bishop Nil Mykola Savaryn was the founding bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton. ... Born in Staryi Sambir on 19 May 1905, he entered the Basilian Order in 1922 and was ordained a priest in 1931. The following year, he volunteered for mission work in Canada. On 3 April 1943, Pope Pius XII named him titular bishop of Jos and auxiliary bishop.On 3 March 1948, he was named Exarch of Western Canada (Alberta and British Columbia) And on 3 November 1956, he was made the first Eparch of Edmonton. He died on 8 January 1986. See the ..read more

A recent article in Canadian Press proclaims that "Canada Is Facing the Largest Wave of Ukrainian Immigration Ever," with a million applications having been filed with the Canadian Government. A new wave of immigration will affect a significant change and in the Ukrainian community in Canada and the country as a whole.  Ukrainian immigration to Canada began in 1891, when the Government enticed Ukrainians of Austrian Galicia and Bukovyna (today in Western Ukraine) to settle the western Canadian prairies with the offer of free land. Other waves arrived after the First World War ..read more

Today marks the Seventy-fifth anniversary of the foundation of the Edmonton and Toronto Eparchies (formerly designated exarchates). On 3 March 1948, the Apostolic See of Rome divided the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic bishopric for Canada into three, creating Apostolic Exarchates of Western Canada (Edmonton), Central Canada (Winnipeg), and Eastern Canada (Toronto).  From the outset, when the Ukrainian (Greek-) Catholic Church in Canada (UGCC) was canonically established in July 1912, it was understood that the task of shepherding a flock spread in settlements across the country, from the Atla ..read more

Timeline by Bohdan Mandziuk It has been a very traumatic year for Ukrainians worldwide. A number of celebratory events had to be postponed after Russia’s war in Ukraine intensified, in February. Communities and organizations across the globe focused on aid to Ukraine and welcoming refugees. Some were still able to commemorate significant milestones in their histories. A stained-glass window remembering Ukrainian-Canadian servicemen and women in Britain was hallowed at St. James's, Sussex Gardens, in London, on 8 May 2022. As well, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Bradford marked thei ..read more

Translations of reports from Vatican Apostolic Archive, Archive of the Nunciature of Canada fonds. Idelbrando Antoniutti to Domenico Tardini  25 February 1952   The British Royal Family and Canada   The death of His Majesty George VI of Great Britain and the accession to the throne of Queen Elizabeth also had the greatest resonance in this country. It seems superfluous to dwell on the editorials and chronicles that, for a few days, filled the local press, recalling everything that could be of interest to the public, with particular references to the official trips made to Can ..read more

Last August, a 68-year-old document was extracted from decades of dust into the light of the present and republished in Italian by the Vatican press. It was Pius XII’s Apostolic Constitution, Exsul Familia Nazarethana, or the Nazarene (Holy) Family in Exile, first issued on 1 August 1952.  An Apostolic Constitution is the most solemn form of legislation issued by the popes, in the form of a bulla (led-sealed parchment). The background to this was that the Second World War had forced 12.6 million displaced persons (DPs) to seek refuge in various western European count ..read more

 I am interviewed by Julian Hayda, produced by Bohdan Mandziuk, for Open Church program of Zhyve Tebebachenya ..read more

65 years ago, on 3 November 1956, Pope Pius XII created an ecclesiastical province (metropolia) for Ukrainian Catholics in Canada, elevating the three existing apostolic exarchates to the status of eparchies and the fourth to an archeparchy. In doing so, the Pontiff bestowed canonical recognition on an already existing reality: the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada (historically known as Ukrainian Greek-Catholic – UGCC), in its hierarchy, clergy, faithful, organizations and structures, had reached ecclesial maturity. Yet, a determining factor in implementing this change was the conviction ..read more