History
Ukraine has a long Christian tradition, dating from the 10th century. Today there are more than 22,000 religious communities in Ukraine from approximately 80 different Christian denominations, as well as other religions. But the atheist policy of the Soviets has left its mark: many Ukrainians today are unchurched because of the great spiritual void which the Bolshevik regime left in Eastern Europe.
The Conversion of Ukraine and Tensions Between East and West
In 988 Prince Volodymyr the Great established Christianity in its Byzantine-Slavic rite as the national religion of his country, Kyivan-Rus. This happened before the Great Church Schism of 1054 divided Christian East from West. The Kyivan Church inherited the traditions of the Byzantine East and was part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Yet this Church also remained in full communion with the Latin West and its patriarch, the Pope of Rome.
Though Constantinople and Rome had their disputes, the Kyivan hierarchy tried to work for Christian unity. Representatives from Rus participated in the Western Councils of Lyon (1245) and Constance (1418). Isidore, the Metropolitan of Kyiv, was himself one of the creators of the Union of Florence (1439).
While the Kyivan Metropolitanate was working towards reunion, a new metropolitanate arose north of Kyiv, in Moscow. The Church of Moscow refused to accept the Union of Florence and separated from the ancient metropolitanate in Kyiv, announcing its autocephaly (self-governing status) in 1448. In 1589, with Greek Orthodoxy and Constantinople subject to Turkish domination, the Church of Moscow became a patriarchate.
Union with Rome in 1596 and East/West Divisions in Ukraine Itself
The Kyivan Church was challenged by the Protestant Reformation and the renewed Catholicism of that period and was also suffering a serious internal crisis. The Synod decided to pass under the jurisdiction of the see of Rome. The traditional Eastern rite of the Kyivan Church was preserved and its ethnic, cultural and ecclesial existence was guaranteed. This was confirmed at the Council of Brest in 1596, which is the beginning of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church as an institution.
Some hierarchs and faithful of the Kyivan Church, however, insisted on remaining under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Torn by internal division, the Central and Eastern sections of Ukraine passed under the control of the ruler of Moscow in 1654. Soon the Orthodox Kyivan Metropolitanate was under the authority of the Moscow Patriarchate (1686). As the Tsarist Empire grew, it repressed the Greek Catholics and forced "conversions" to Russian Orthodoxy (1772, 1795, 1839, 1876). The Pratulin Martyrs died as a result of these repressions.
Orthodox clergy and laity in Ukraine were dissatisfied with the close connections of the Russian Orthodox Church with Russian national interests. "Ukrainophile" movements began and after the Russian Revolution in 1917 a movement began to gain autocephalous status for Ukrainian Orthodoxy. Attempts to proclaim autocephaly in the 1920s and 1940s were, however, repressed by the Soviet powers.
Polish and Austrian Rule in Western Ukraine
All of Ukraine had been part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the time of the Council of Brest, and western Ukraine remained so. The Church played a leading role in preserving the cultural and religious independence of the Ukrainian population there. As the western Ukrainian lands later passed into Austrian control, the imperial government of the Hapsburgs supported and protected the Greek-Catholic hierarchy.
At the beginning of the 20th Century the Greek-Catholic Church in Halychyna was graced by the exemplary leadership of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky (1901-1944). He was the spiritual leader during two world wars and seven changes of political regime, including Nazi and Soviet. His tireless pastoral work, his defense of the rights of his people, his charitable and ecumenical efforts made the Church an influential social institution in western Ukraine.
The Legacy of Totalitarianism-- Ukraine in the 20th Century
It is the tragedy of the 20th Century, the epoch of terror and violence, which has most affected the development of religious life in contemporary Ukraine. Approximately 17 million people are estimated to have died a violent death in Ukraine in the 20th Century. It is even more tragic that these losses were caused not just by war and conflict but by utopian ideals of re-building the world.
The war on religion was the ideology of the Communist regime and no effort was spared. Church buildings were ruined, burnt down, profaned; priests and faithful, Orthodox, Catholic and representatives of other religions were shot, arrested and deported to the Siberian gulag; church communities were persecuted, confined to underground activities or entirely destroyed. Both the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church at the beginning of the 1930s and the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in 1946 in Halychyna and in 1949 in Transcarpathia were liquidated. The Roman Catholic Church and Protestant churches survived in only a handful of carefully monitored churches.
Even the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church (which functioned as a state church) were limited and it furthermore suffered from infiltration by Soviet security structures. There was a progressive spiritual vacuum and a deepening demoralization of society.
With the crisis of Soviet power in the 1980s, the suppression of churches ceased. The formerly forbidden Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church emerged from the underground and communities of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church were created in 1989. The declaration of Ukrainian independence in 1991 created a new context for the activities of all the churches in this territory. Thus, official religious freedom in Ukraine opened the way for religious pluralism.
Liturgy
A CAPELLA – NO MUSICAL INSTRUMENTSAll of our divine Services are sung. The parishioners know the music and take an active part in all services. Do not feel out of place if you do not know the music. Look, listen, smell, and first of all: pray. We gather as a community to worship God “in Spirit and truth.” (Jn 4:24)
Because the early Church Fathers wanted to be sure that the people would learn and participate in the services, they forbade musical instruments in the church. We take great pride in the fact that our people can participate fully without the assistance of any instruments.
ICONS INSTEAD OF STATUES
You will notice that there are no statues in our church. The Greek Fathers feared that statues would lead us to the worship of idols. The Greeks worshiped idols anyway, and the Church Fathers wanted to make sure that the Christian church would be distinguished from pagan religions. In the place of statues, we use icons (the Greek word icon means image), which are flat paintings of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, His most Holy Mother, the Ever-Virgin Mary, important feast days, and the saints. Icons look odd to many people, as though the artist was poorly trained; this is not the case, however, because icons are “written” according to traditional, most ancient standards. They look odd to modern eyes because they are intended to be symbolic rather than realistic.
RECEIVING “HOLY COMMUNION”
During the Holy and Divine Liturgy (our name for what the Latins call “Mass”), when the time comes for the distribution of the Most Holy Body and the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ (called “Holy Communion” by the Latins), do not be afraid to receive if you are Catholic or Orthodox and in the state of Grace. “Holy Communion” is given under both forms, bread and wine, using a golden spoon. The spoon simplifies things for us, since we use leavened bread, (baked with a special recipe and marked with special markings – and called prosphora) rather than the unleavened (flat wafer) bread used by the Latins. Communion “in the hand” is NOT an option.
To receive the Most Holy body and the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, just approach the Priest with your arms folded in the form of St. Andrew’s Cross (X), tilt your head back slightly, and open your mouth. The priest says a prayer; you DO NOT answer “Amen.” Be sure to chew the Sacred Species carefully. No one has ever choked on a “Particle” here; neither will you.
Your Sunday obligation is fulfilled by attending the Holy and Divine Liturgy (“Mass”) in any Catholic Church of any tradition.
Catholics should experience as many of the Eastern “Rites” as they can. “Catholic” means “in the fullness of,” and it is through the variety of “rites” that the Church reveals its universality.
Please feel “at home” praying with us, and please come visit us often and bring or tell a friend!
WHAT IS A RITE?
A “rite” is a complete tradition – the unique way that a particular community of the faithful perceives, expresses, and lives its Christian life with the Catholic Church.
HOW MANY RITES ARE THERE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH?
Generally speaking, there are six main Rites of the Catholic Church: Alexandrian, Antiochean, Armenian, Byzantine, Chaldean, and Roman. However, language and national customs have made subdivision of each of them so that we can now say there are over 25 different “Rites.”
WOULD IT NOT BE BETTER TO HAVE ONE “RITE” FOR EVERYONE?
No. The many “Rites” are the most powerful witness the Catholic Church has to show the universality of the Church. In the essentials of our Faith – the Bible and Tradition, there must be unity. In the expression of the Faith – in liturgy and customs, there is liberty.
IN THE EARLY CHURCH WHAT WERE THE MAJOR CENTERS FROM WHICH THE VARIOUS “RITES” DEVELOPED?
Christianity spread from the city of Jerusalem – in other words, from the East. From Jerusalem, Christianity spread to Antioch, Alexandria, Rome and Constantinople. All Eastern Christians are descendants of the Eastern centers (Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria and Constantinople). All Western Christians are descendants of the Western center, Rome, which until the fifth century observed the eastern “Rite” of Jerusalem.
HOW DID THE RITES BEGIN?
The Apostles received the commission to “Go, ye therefore, and teach all nations…” (Mat 18:19) from Our Lord, Jesus Christ. As the Apostles went forth to preach the “Good News of Salvation” through Jesus Christ, they found themselves in many different lands and among many different peoples. To all of these people they preached morals and the truths of the Faith, as they had heard them from the lips of Our Lord. They administered all of the seven Sacraments instituted by Christ. Naturally, the ceremonies were performed differently, according to the customs of the people. The music used varied with the different nations, as did the language. While all Catholics (Byzantine, Laotians, etc.) profess an identical faith, their method of expressing and living that faith differs accordingly as their mentality and cultural backgrounds differ. Thus, in the very early Church many diverse “ways” arose.
WHY IS SO LITTLE KNOW ABOUT THE EASTERN CHURCHES?
For centuries there was little contact between East and West. As the result of this, there has been much misunderstanding, prejudice and rejection. It is a known fact that many Latin bishops, priests and religious have neglected to learn and teach their people about the different “Rites” of the Catholic Church, some of them openly persecuted our people. The most infamous was Archbishop John Ireland of Saint Paul, Minnesota, sometimes called the “founder of the Orthodox Church in America” since he pushed hundreds of thousands of our people into the Orthodox Church. Sadly, most history and catechism books of the Latin Church do not even mention the various “Rites.”
WHAT DOES THE LATIN POPE OF ROME SAY ABOUT THE EASTERN CHURCHES?
“All members of the Eastern Rites should know and be convinced that they can and should always preserve their legitimate Liturgical Rite and their established way of life…” –from the Decree on Eastern Rites of the Second Vatican Council). today, more than ever, the Holy See of Rome looks to the Eastern Churches as the source of unchanged, “undeveloped” Apostolic Tradition.
WERE THERE ANY POPES FROM AMONG THE EASTERN CHURCH?
Yes, there were about 20 Popes of Eastern origin, mostly Greeks. For the first few centuries in Rome, the Holy and Divine Liturgy was always celebrated in the Greek language.
ARE ALL EASTERN CHRISTIANS CATHOLIC?
No. In fact, a greater percentage of Eastern Christians are Orthodox.
WHO ARE THE ORTHODOX?
The Orthodox are Eastern Christians who are not subject to the Roman Pontiff.
ARE ORTHODOX SACRAMENTS VALID?
Yes they are, since the Orthodox Church is of Apostolic origin. In fact, in case of an emergency, any Catholic (Byzantine, Latin, etc.) may request the Sacraments from an Orthodox Priest.
