The Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo is an
eparchy
Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the ...
(diocese) associated with the
Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church under an unidentified status and territory located in the west of
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, roughly equivalent with
Zakarpatska Oblast. The eparchy was created by the
Pope Clement XIV
Pope Clement XIV ( la, Clemens XIV; it, Clemente XIV; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in Sep ...
in 1771.
The eparchy is in
full communion with the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. Its parishes observe the
Byzantine Rite which is also celebrated by the majority of
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
Christians, and as provided for in the original terms of the
Union of Uzhhorod.
The eparchy is a mother eparchy of at least four modern metropoles, i.e., the
Slovak Greek Catholic Church, the
Romanian Greek Catholic Church, the
Hungarian Greek Catholic Church, and the
Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
[Havrosh, O. ]
Bishop Milan: "Eparchy of Mukachevo belongs to the biggest in Ukraine" (Владика Мілан: «Мукачівська єпархія належить до найбільших в Україні»)
'. Eparchy of Mukachevo website from Mirror Weekly
''Dzerkalo Tyzhnia'' ( ua, Дзеркало тижня), usually referred to in English as the ''Mirror Weekly'', was one of Ukraine's most influential analytical weekly-publisher newspapers, founded in 1994.[Saints Cyril and Methodius
Cyril (born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (815–885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs".
They are credited wi ...]
in the ninth century. The 14th century saw the founding of the famous Saint Nicholas Monastery on "Chernecha Hora" or "Hill of Monks" located in the city of Mukachevo
Mukachevo ( uk, Мукачево, ; hu, Munkács; see name section) is a city in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast (province), in Western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion (district), the city ...
. Many believe that from that point, the Eparchy of Mukachevo evolved into the entity as we know it today. The bishops resided at the Monastery and administered ecclesiastical affairs from there until 1766. After the union with Rome and until 1946, the Monastery of St Nicholas was also the principal religious house of the monks of the Order of Saint Basil the Great
The Order of Saint Basil the Great ( uk, Чин Святого Василія Великого, translit=Chyn Sviatoho Vasyliia Velykoho; la, Ordo Sancti Basilii Magni, abbreviated OSBM), also known as the Basilian Order of Saint Josaphat, is ...
(OSBM), also called ''Basilian'' monks.
The bishops, clergy and faithful of this eparchy were originally Orthodox Christians at some point were reconstituted under an eparchy suffragan to the original Metropolitan of Kiev
Metropolitan of Kyiv is an episcopal title that has been created with varying suffixes at multiple times in different Christian churches, though always maintaining the name of the metropolitan city — Kiev. The title takes its name from the city ...
(Rhosia Orthodox Church) that was under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople (see Eparchy of Mukačevo and Prešov
The Eparchy of Mukachevo and Prešov ( sr, Епархија мукачевско-прешовска) was an Eastern Orthodox diocese (eparchy) of the Serbian Orthodox Church, that existed from 1931 to 1945. It had jurisdiction over regions of Sl ...
).
In 1646, following the example of their compatriots across the Carpathian Mountains in Galicia (current day Western Ukraine), who in 1596 established the Union of Brest
The Union of Brest (; ; ; ) was the 1595–96 decision of the Ruthenian Orthodox Church eparchies (dioceses) in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to break relations with the Eastern Orthodox Church and to enter into communion with, and place i ...
, the people of the Mukachevo eparchy united with the papal Holy See
The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...
(recognizing the primacy of Catholic Rome, not Byzantine, Orthodox 'second Rome' Constantinople) under what is known as the Union of Uzhhorod. Other Eastern Orthodox Christians who belonged to the original Eastern Orthodox eparchy of Mukachevo and refused to convert joined the eparchy of Buda
The Eparchy of Buda ( sr, Будимска епархија or ) is a diocese or eparchy of the Serbian Orthodox Church, having jurisdiction over the territory of Hungary. The seat of the eparchy is in Szentendre ( sr, Сентандреја or ...
that is suffragan to the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć
The Serbian Patriarchate of Peć ( sr, Српска патријаршија у Пећи, ''Srpska patrijaršija u Peći'') or just Patriarchate of Peć ( sr, Пећка патријаршија, ''Pećka patrijaršija''), was an autocephalous ...
(and later Patriarchate of Karlovci
The Patriarchate of Karlovci ( sr, Карловачка патријаршија, Karlovačka patrijaršija) or Serbian Patriarchate of Sremski Karlovci ( sr, Српска патријаршија у Сремским Карловцима, Srpska ...
).
In the political and spiritual climate of the day, union with Rome was considered by many to be a productive solution to promoting both the welfare of the people and the church. Following a model similar to that proposed at the Council of Florence, the people were allowed to maintain their Byzantine Rite spiritual, liturgical and canonical traditions, while recognizing the Roman Pontiff as the head of the universal church.[ From 1646 to 1771 the eparchy was suffragan to the ]Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Eger
The Archdiocese of Eger ( la, Archidioecesis Agriensis) is an archdiocese in Northern Hungary, its centre is the city of Eger.
History
* 1000: Established as Diocese of Eger
* August 9, 1804: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Eger
Ord ...
.
On September 19, 1771, after decades of efforts on the part of the bishops of Mukachevo for recognition as a fully self-governing ecclesiastical entity, free from the control of the Latin Catholic bishops of Eger
Eger ( , ; ; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque bui ...
(today in Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...
), the Habsburg Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa issued a decree, subsequently approved by Rome, that created a jurisdictionally independent Mukachevo Eparchy no longer subordinate to the Latin Rite
Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church '' sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...
ordinary. It was also at this time that the faithful of the eparchy formally became known as Greek Catholics The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually.
The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...
. During the episcopate of Bishop Andrii Bachynskyij (1772-1809), the eparchy retained its historic name but its seat was moved to Uzhhorod
Uzhhorod ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the ...
(1780), where it remains to this day. The Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Uzhhorod is the seat of the eparchy.[
Following the ]Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
and the occupation of Carpatho-Ukraine
Carpatho-Ukraine or Carpathian Ukraine ( uk, Карпа́тська Украї́на, Karpats’ka Ukrayina, ) was an autonomous region within the Second Czechoslovak Republic, created in December 1938 by renaming Subcarpathian Rus' whose full ...
by the Soviet regime, the Greek Catholic Church was liquidated in 1949. All properties were allocated to the Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
and the clergy and many faithful exiled to concentration camps. The bishop of Mukachevo during this time was Theodore Romzha. In 1947, Bishop Romzha was poisoned by NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union.
...
(predecessor of the KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
) authorities. During the Soviet years, the Greek Catholic Church in Galicia, Transcarpathia
Transcarpathia may refer to:
Place
* relative term, designating any region beyond the Carpathians (lat. ''trans-'' / beyond, over), depending on a point of observation
* Romanian Transcarpathia, designation for Romanian regions on the inner or ...
and Slovakia continued to operate secretly in the underground.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, many priests and faithful of the Eparchy of Mukachevo came out of the catacombs. The eparchy was allowed to officially renew its activities in 1989. Bishop Ivan Semedi, who had been secretly consecrated during the persecution years, was the first bishop to freely perform his ministry in over 40 years.
Bishops
The list of the eparchs (bishops) of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo is:
Eastern Orthodox bishops
:
*Hierotheos, 940
*Joannes I, 1491-1498
*Basilius I, 1551-1552
*Hilarius I, 1556-1559
*Euthymius I, 1561-1567
*Amphilochius, 1569-1596
*Basilius II, 1597-inc.
*Sergius, 1601-1616
*Sophronius I, 1616
*Hilarius II
*Euthymius II, 1618-inc.
*Petronius, 1623-1627
*Joannes II (Hrehorovych), 1627-1633
* Basilius III (Tarasovych), 1634-1642
*Porphyry (Arden), 1640—1643
*Sophronius II (Yusko), 1646 (Vlach)
* Basilius III (Tarasovych), 1646-1648
*Parfeniy (Petrovych-Ratoszynski), 1648—1649
*Joannicius (Zeikan), 1652—1686
*Theophanes (Mavrokordato), 1677 (Archbishop of Hungarian Ruthenia)
*Methodius (Rakovecki), 1687—1692
*Joseph (Stojka), 1692—1711
*Dosyteus (Feodorovych), 1711—1734
Greek Catholic bishops
:*''after the 1646 Union of Uzhhorod the Eparchy of Mukachevo united with Rome''
* Vasyl Tarasovych, 1646-1648
* Petro Parfenii, 1649-1665
*Yosyf Voloshynovskyi, 1670-1673
*Porphyriy Kulchynskyi, 1681-1686
*Yosyf de Kamelis (Joseph de Camillis), 1690-1706
*Yosyf Hodermarskyi, 1706-1716
* Hennadiy Bizantsiy, 1716-1733
* Stefan Olshavskyi, 1733-1737
*Havryil Blazhovskyi
Havryil Heorhiy Blazhovskyi, Order of Saint Basil the Great, O.S.B.M. (born as Juraj Mankovič; uk, Гавриїл Георгій Блажовський, hu, Gábor György Blazsovszky, sk, Gabriel Juraj Blažovsky, c. 1705 – 20 December ...
, 1738–1742
* Manuil Olshavskyi, 1743–1767
* Ivan Bradach, 1767–1771
**''In 1771 the Eparchy of Mukachevo got his independence from the Latin bishop of Eger''
* Ivan Bradach, 1771–1772
*Andriy Bachynskyi
Andriy Bachynskyi ( uk, Андрій Бачинський, hu, Bacsinszky András; 11 November 1732 – 19 November 1809) was a Ruthenian Greek Catholic hierarch. He was bishop of the Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Mukacheve from 1773 to 1809.
Bi ...
, 1773–1809
** auxiliary bishop Mykhaylo Bradach, 1808–1812
* Mykhaylo Bradach, Apostolic Administrator, 1812–1815
* Oleksiy Povchiy, 1816–1831
* Vasyl Popovych, 1837–1864
* Stefan Pankovych, 1866–1874
* Ivan Pasteliy, 1876–1891
* Yuliy Firtsak, 1891–1912
** coadjutor bishop Antal Papp
Antal Papp (17 November 1867 – 24 December 1945) was a Ruthenian and Hungarian Greek Catholic hierarch. He was bishop of the Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Mukacheve from 1912 to 1924, Apostolic Administrator of the new created Hungarian Gre ...
, 1912
*Antal Papp
Antal Papp (17 November 1867 – 24 December 1945) was a Ruthenian and Hungarian Greek Catholic hierarch. He was bishop of the Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Mukacheve from 1912 to 1924, Apostolic Administrator of the new created Hungarian Gre ...
, 1912–1924
*Petro Gebey
Petro Gebey ( uk, Петро Ґебей, hu, Gebé Péter; 20 July 1864 – 26 April 1931) was a Ruthenian Greek Catholic hierarch. He was bishop of the Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Mukacheve from 1924 to 1931.
Biography
Born in Kalnyk, Austria ...
, 1924–1931
*Oleksandr Stoyka
Oleksandr Stoyka ( uk, Олександр Стойка, rue, Александер Стойка, hu, Sztojka Sándor; 16 October 1890 – 31 May 1943) was a Ruthenian Greek Catholic hierarch. He was bishop of the Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of ...
, 1932–1943
* Miklós Dudás, Apostolic Administrator, 1943–1946
*Bl. Teodor Romzha, 1944–1947
**''In 1949 the Communist Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
abolished the Greek Catholic Church; all its properties were allocated to the Russian Orthodox Church.''
* Clandestine Bishops
** Alexander Chira, 1944–1983
** Petro Oros, 1944–1953
** Konstantyn Sabov, 1977–1982
** Ivan Semedi, 1978–1991
** Yosyf Holovach, 1983–1991
** Ivan Margitych, 1987–1991
**''In 16 January 1991 the Holy See confirmed all clandestine consecrations''
* Ivan Semedi, 1991-2002
** auxiliary bishop Yosyf Holovach, 1991–2000
** auxiliary bishop Ivan Margitych, 1991–2002
** auxiliary bishop Đura Džudžar
Đura Džudžar (born April 22, 1954) is Serbian eparchial bishop of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Ruski Krstur since 2018. He was previously titular bishop of Acrassus (2001-2018), auxiliary bishop of the Ruthenian Eparchy of Mukachevo (2 ...
, 2001–2003
* Milan Šašik, Apostolic Administrator, 2002–2010
* Milan Šašik, 2010–2020
** auxiliary bishop Nil Lushchak, 2012–2020
* Nil Lushchak, Apostolic Administrator, since 2020
Statistics
In 2014 the eparchy had 320,000 faithful, 2 bishops, 429 parishes, 280 diocesan priests, 30 religious priests, 44 men religious, 45 women religious, 0 deacons and 98 seminarians.
See also
* Eparchy of Mukačevo and Prešov
The Eparchy of Mukachevo and Prešov ( sr, Епархија мукачевско-прешовска) was an Eastern Orthodox diocese (eparchy) of the Serbian Orthodox Church, that existed from 1931 to 1945. It had jurisdiction over regions of Sl ...
Sources and external links
Official site
References
Further reading
*
*
{{Authority control
Mukachevo
Zakarpattia Oblast
Eastern Catholic dioceses in Ukraine
History of Carpathian Ruthenia
Eastern Catholicism in Ukraine
Mukachevo
Mukachevo ( uk, Мукачево, ; hu, Munkács; see name section) is a city in the valley of the Latorica river in Zakarpattia Oblast (province), in Western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of Mukachevo Raion (district), the city ...