Eastern Christianity took a firm root in Ukraine in 989 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, seven 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 emigrate 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 March 25, 2011.
In the United States the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia is headed by
Metropolitan-Archbishop Borys Gudziak,
newly appointed by Pope Francis on February 18, 2019.
The Archeparchy is composed of the Eparchies of Stamford, Chicago, and Parma.
The Eparchy of St. Nicholas in Chicago, Illinois, is headed by
Bishop Benedict Aleksiychuk
who was enthroned as Bishop on June 29, 2017. He is responsible for all Ukrainian Catholics in the United
States west of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. There are currently around 70 priests
and deacons working in the eparchy in 46 parishes and mission stations, including the parish of the
Nativity of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church.
In addition the Ruthenian Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh is composed of the Ruthenian eparchies of
Parma, Passaic and Phoenix. These are also under the authority of the Pope.