Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of CanadaFile:Uocc-.gif
Jurisdiction	Constantinople
Diocese type	Archdiocese
Founded	1918
Current bishop	Metropolitan John (Stinka) of Winnipeg, Archbishop Yurij (Kalistchuk) of Toronto
See(s)	Winnipeg, Toronto, Edmonton
Headquarters	Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Territory	Canada
Liturgical language(s)	Ukrainian, Church Slavonic, English
Musical tradition	Ukrainian Chant
Calendar	Julian
Population estimate	About 12,000
Official website	UOCC

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada (UOCC) is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Canada, primarily serving Ukrainian Canadians.

It has cathedrals in the cities of Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, and Montreal. The Metropolitan Cathedral, seminary (St. Andrew's College), and central administrative office are all based in Winnipeg. Its membership is about 12,000, and the current primate of the church is Metropolitan John (Stinka).

History

Most ethnic Ukrainians moving to Canada from Western Ukraine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were Greek Catholics, and were tended early on by the local Roman Catholic hierarchy. At the same time, a smaller group of settlers arriving from Bukovina were mostly Orthodox. Initially served by the Russian mission, by then established in the northwest of North America through Alaska, the Orthodox settlers sought a native Ukrainian church, which they organized in the summer of 1918 in the city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

The UOCC had strong ties to the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church after 1921, when that body was established in Ukraine. In 1951, St. Mary the Protectress Cathedral (who was not in the UOCC at that time) had invited Metropolitan Ilarion (Ohienko) to Canada to become their church's bishop, while the Consistory of the UOCC had already invited Archbishop Michael (Khoroshy) and Bishop Platon (who reposed shortly after arriving in Canada) to come to Canada to be the Church's Metropolitan and Bishop respectivly. Once the Consistory had found out of Metropolitan Ilarion's coming to Canada, they sought him out, and invited him to become Metropolitan of the UOCC. He accepted only if St. Mary the Protectress was to be accepted back into the UOCC. The Consistory agreed, and the Central and Eastern Dioceses were created with Archbishop Michael heading the Eastern Diocese with its headquarters in Toronto, and Metropolitan Ilarion heading the Central Diocese in Winnipeg as Metropolitan.

File:Uoccsobor05.jpg

Rev. Fr. B. Hladio (Chancellor); Archbishop Yurij (Kalistchuk) of Toronto; Metropolitan John (Stinka) of Winnipeg; V. Rev. Fr. Michael Skrumeda (candidate for episcopacy); at the 2005 UOCC Sobor.

In 1990, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada became a canonical church by being accepted into the Church of Constantinople. A few years later its sister church, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA joined her.

In July 2005, at the Twenty-first Sobor of the UOCC, Metropolitan (then Archbishop) John (Stinka) was elected Archbishop of Winnipeg and Metropolitan of All Canada.. In late 2005, Archbishop John finally replaced Metropolitan Wasyly (Fedak) after the former's acceptance by the holy synod of bishops. Metropolitan Wasyly, who died in January 2005, had served as metropolitan for nearly 20 years.

Currently, the UOCC has just two bishops; this number is fewer than preferred, as three bishops makes a council of bishops, and the UOCC prefers to have four bishops to help them better look after their flock. To help resolve this situation, the Twenty-first Sobor chose Very Rev. Fr. Michael Skumeda as bishop-elect, and an Extraordinary Sobor will be held in July 2007 to elect at least one bishop. In July 2006, Metropolitan John will be enthroned as Archbishop of Winnipeg and the Central Diocese.

File:HTUOC.jpg

Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral, Winnipeg

File:MetropolitanJOHN(stinka).jpg

Metropolitan JOHN (Stinka) of Winnipeg

Bishops

In Ukrainian (Slavic) Tradition, the Metropolitan is the Primate of the Church, and then followed by the archbishops and bishops.

In the UOCC, the metropolitan is styled the Archbishop of Winnipeg, of the Central Diocese, and Metropolitan of Canada, while the following two Diocesian bishops are always styled (Arch)bishop of Edmonton, and the Western Diocese and the (Arch)bishop of Toronto, and the Eastern Diocese. When the Church has 4 Bishops, the 4th is always styled the Bishop of Saskatoon, and Vicar of the Central Diocese. Usually the church only has four bishops, but if there is a need for more, then the titles available are Bishop of Montreal, and Vicar of the Eastern Diocese, and Bishop of Vancouver, and the Vicar of the Western Diocese.

List of bishops, past and present, who served in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada:

• Abp. Mstyslav (Skrypnyk) (later Archbishop, and Metropolitan of UOC of USA, and in 1990-93, Patriarch of Ukraine in the UAOC), deceased
• Metr. Ilarion (Ohienko) of Winnipeg (first metropolitan in the UOCC) (1951-1972 as metropolitan), deceased
• Metr. Michael (Khoroshy) of Toronto (1951-1977), metropolitan from 1972 to 1975 (at the XV Sobor in 1975, Metropolitan Michael resigned as Metropolitan, as he wished to remain in the Eastern Diosese), deceased
• Metr. Andrew (Metiuk) of Winnipeg (d. 1985), metropolitan from 1975 to 1985 (first Bishop of Edmonton), deceased
• Abp. Boris (Yakovkevych) of Edmonton (first Bishop of Saskatoon), deceased
• Abp. Nicholas (Debryn) of Toronto, deceased
• Metr. Wasyly (Fedak) of Winnipeg (1978-2005), metropolitan from 1985 to 2005, deceased
• Metr. John (Stinka) of Winnipeg (1983-present), metropolitan from 2005 to present
• Abp. Yurij (Kalistchuk) of Toronto (1989-present)

See also

• Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA

External links

• Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada
• History of UOCC: "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" by Rt. Rev. Dr. Oleh Krawchenko from the Orthodox Research Institute
• "Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada" at Wikipedia
• St. Andrew's College in Winnipeg