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Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London

Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London Eparchia Sanctae Familiae Londiniensis Name in other languages Єпархія Пресвятої Родини у Лондоні (in Ukrainian) Yeparkhiya Presvyatoyi Rodyny u Londoni (in Ukrainian)
Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family in Exile, Duke Street, London.
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Territory	Entirety of Great Britain and Ireland
Ecclesiastical province	Not part of any ecclesiastical province
Metropolitan	Major Archeparch of Kyiv-Galicia
Statistics
Area	229,848 km2 (88,745 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2014) 60,003,000 15,000 (0.025%)
Parishes	18
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Sui iuris church	Ukrainian Greek Catholic
Rite	Byzantine Rite
Established	10 June 1957
Cathedral	Cathedral of the Holy Family in Exile
Patron saint	Holy Family
Secular priests	17
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Major Archbishop	Sviatoslav Shevchuk
Eparch	Kenneth Nowakowski
Bishops emeritus	Hlib Lonchyna
Website
[1]

The Eparchy of the Holy Family of London (Ukrainian: Єпархія Пресвятої Родини у Лондоні; Latin: Eparchia Sanctae Familiae Londiniensis) is an eparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church which is an Eastern Catholic Church that is in full communion with the Holy See. Its territorial remit includes the entirety of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. The episcopal seat is the Cathedral of the Holy Family in Exile which is situated in the city of London. The incumbent eparch, Kenneth Nowakowski, was appointed on 15 January 2020.^[1]

Initially erected as an exarchate, it gained eparchial status (equivalent to a diocese in the Latin Church) on 18 January 2013. Due to the comparatively small number of faithful in the eparchy, fewer services, such as schools and care centres, are provided.

History[edit]

Antecedents[edit]

Since the late 19th century many Ukrainians have migrated to England, most notably to London and the Red Bank area of Manchester.^[2] These migrants have been known as 'old immigrants', or stari emihranty.

After the Second World War more migrants came to the British Isles^{[citation needed]} from Eastern Europe, among them numerous Ukrainian Catholics, as most of the Ukrainian immigrants were from Western Ukraine. Initially, many of the Eastern European Catholics worshipped in industrial hostels, as these were common locations where immigrants found cheaper accommodation. Some also worshipped in local Latin Church parish churches, but not in their Byzantine liturgy.

However, eventually, Ukrainian Greek Catholics were able to organize worship in their own Byzantine liturgy, often in the local Latin Church parish church. In Coventry, by 1948, the Church of Christ the King in Coundon started having Ukrainian Catholic services. These were soon transferred to St Elizabeth Church in Foleshill.^[3] In 1957, the Apostolic Exarchate was established for Ukrainian Catholics in England and Wales.

Apostolic Exarchate[edit]

The eparchy was erected on 10 June 1957 as an apostolic exarchate for the faithful of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in England and Wales. On 12 May 1968 the exarchate's remit was extended to the whole of Great Britain, including Scotland (not Northern Ireland).

By 1959, over 700 Ukrainian Catholics had registered themselves in Coventry. In the Midlands, there was a Ukrainian Catholic priest celebrating Ukrainian-rite services for the Ukrainian faithful in Coventry, as well as in Rugby, Gloucester, Bristol, Birmingham and Cheltenham.

With the help of Cardinal John Heenan, Bishop Hornyak was able to secure the King's Weigh House, a former Congregational chapel,^[4] to serve as the Apostolic Exarchate's cathedral church - the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Family in ExileinLondon.

After Ukrainian independence in 1991 emigrants have been attracted to prosperous western countries, principally those with qualifying skills, with a close inter-relation (such as intermarriage) and qualifying political asylum seekers entitled to refugee status, such as in the mid-2010s war, which have included Ukrainian Catholics.^[5]

Eparchy[edit]

On 18 January 2013 the Exarchate was elevated in the rank of the Eparchy (full bishopric) by Pope Benedict XVI.^[6]

The Ukrainian Catholic church in Wolverhampton was included as part of a video series by English Heritage on faith buildings in England.^[7]

On 9 June 2023, the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family in London, according to the decree of Bishop Kenneth, switches [uk] from 1 September 2023 to the Gregorian calendar, in particular with Easter.^[8][9]

Statistics[edit]

The number of faithful in the Eparchy (diocese) numbers 10,000. There are 12 parishes regularly served, 14 diocesan priests, 3 religious priests, 3 male religious and 3 female religious.^[10]

Charitable status[edit]

The Eparchy (formerly Apostolic Exarchate) for Ukrainian Catholics in Great Britain is a registered charity with the Charity Commission in England and Wales, under charity number 240088. It was first registered as a charity on 9 July 1965. Its stated aim is 'the advancement of religion at discretion of the bishop and his successors in title or the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Great Britain'.^[11]

Division over views on a Kyiv Patriarchate[edit]

There has, for a long time, been different views among Ukrainian Catholics on the idea of a Kyiv Patriarchate, replacing the Major Archdiocese.^[12]

Hornyak was the first apostolic exarch, was known to have sided with those who did not believe that it would be appropriate for the Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church – who was then Cardinal Josyf Slipyj – to be commemorated as Patriarch until the Pope would agree to elevate the Major Archdiocese to a Patriarchate.^[13]

Since most of the faithful in the Apostolic Exarchate were patriotic and nationalist veterans of the Ukrainian Army, which was created in resistance to the German occupational forces, most supported the idea of a Patriarchate. They were therefore disappointed by the Bishop Hornyak's decision. Many showed their opposition through withholding their donations to the Church. A few Ukrainian Catholic priests came from Rome and began to celebrate Divine Liturgy privately in the faithful's homes commemorating the Major Archbishop as Patriarch – an act which angered Bishop Hornyak.

However, some people chose even more extreme methods of expressing their disagreement with Bishop Hornyak. For example, on 18 December 1977, when Bishop Hornyak went to Gloucester to open the new Ukrainian Catholic church, he was met by around 500 demonstrators who ignored the police cordon line and attacked him, bruising his face and crushing his glasses. This forced him to retreat back into his car.^[14][15]

Stephen Sulyk, Archbishop Metropolitan Emeritus for Ukrainian Catholics in Philadelphia, wrote in his autobiography, I Am With You Always, that Bishop Hornyak was eventually forced into retirement due to pressure from the Patriarchal Organization – which advocated a Kyiv Patriarchate – and the Major Archbishop of Lviv, Cardinal Myroslav Lubachivsky (Sulyk's predecessor) unfairly due to his backing of Vatican policies. However, many supporting the creation of a Kyiv Patriarchate viewed Bishop Hornyak's retirement as a good sign.^[13]

Bishops[edit]

When the Apostolic Exarchate for Ukrainians in England and Wales was first established in 1957, it was administered by the then Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal William Godfrey. Bishop Augustine Hornyak was ordained as auxiliary bishop in 1961. Upon the death of Cardinal Godfrey in 1963, Augustine Hornyak was elevated to Apostolic Exarch for Ukrainians in England and Wales. In 1968, with the enlargement of the Apostolic Exarchate to include Scotland as well, Bishop Hornyak became the first Apostolic Exarch for Ukrainians in Great Britain. He has been succeeded by two other bishops.

On 2 June 2009, Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Hlib Lonchyna, M.S.U., who had been an auxiliary to Cardinal Lubomyr Husar in Kyiv-Halych, as Apostolic Administrator of Great Britain and Apostolic Visitor in Ireland, which for all intents and purposes made him the new ordinary. In 2011, he was appointed Apostolic Exarch, and with the elevation of the Exarchate to the status of an Eparchy, Lonchyna became her first eparchial bishop.

Cathedral church[edit]

Named for the Holy Family, the cathedral was established in 1967 in an 1890 Alfred Waterhouse building. The edifice was the third home of an independent church founded in the 17th century, the King's Weigh House congregationalists, which dissolved after terminal decline in 1966. The cathedral is the seat of the Eparch (bishop) and is in Mayfair, London. It has a regular congregation of around 1000. Clerics are eparchial secular priests.

Ukrainian Greek Catholic parish churches in Great Britain[edit]

See also[edit]

• Ukrainian migration to the United Kingdom
• Catholic Church in England and Wales
• Catholic Church

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Hebblethwaite, Peter (1986). Inside the Vatican. London: Sidgwick & Jackson.
• Kaye, Elaine (1968). The King's Weigh House Church. London: George Allen and Unwin.^{[page needed]}
• Stephens, WB, ed. (1969). "The City of Coventry: Roman Catholicism". A History of the County of Warwick. Victoria County History. Vol. 8, the City of Coventry and Borough of Warwick. London: Oxford University Press for the University of London Institute of Historical Research. pp. 368–371.
• Sulyk, Stephen (2004). I Am Always With You. Pleasant Word. ISBN 978-1414100623.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Holy Family of London.

• GCatholic.org information page on the Apostolic Exarchate/Eparchy
• Catholic-Hierarchy.org information on the Apostolic Exarchate
• Youtube video of Cardinal Lubomyr Husar's visit to London
• Decree of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family in London on the transition to the Gregorian calendar dated June 9, 2023
  • Pastoral letter regarding the liturgical calendar reform from Bishop Kenneth