Nestor Dmytriw (1863 – May 27, 1925) was a

Ukrainian Catholic Ukrainian Catholic Church may refer to: * Latin Church in Ukraine * Greek Catholic Churches (Eastern Catholic communities of the Byzantine Rite, centered in Ukraine, in communion with the Church of Rome) ** Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church **Ukrai ...

priest, author and translator, born in Scherebky (Жеребки), Galicia,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. Shortly after his ordination by

Metropolitan bishop In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis. Originally, the term referred to the b ...

Sylvester Sembratovych in 1894, he came to the

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in 1895 and settled in Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania. In the US, he quickly became involved with missionary work and journalism through the

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.''Svoboda''.

United States

Nestor Dmytriw was one of the so-called American Circle, a group of young seminarians who, while still in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

, resolved to emigrate to the United States in order to improve the religious, civic, and cultural status of the Ukrainian immigrants. Dmytriw and

Cyril Genik Cyril Ivanovich Genik ( uk , Кирило Іванович Геник, 1857 – February 12, 1925) was a Ukrainians, Ukrainian-Canadians, Canadian immigration agent. He is a Persons of National Historic Significance, Person of National Histor ...

both “shared in Joseph Oleskow’s views on the needs of the peasantry.”Subtelny, Orest. Ukrainians in North America, An Illustrated History. University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1991, page 65. “In 1895, after his ordination, Dmytriw himself arrived in the

, where he combined missionary work among the Ukrainian industrial labourers of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

with journalism. He became associated with the first Ukrainian-language newspaper in North America, Svoboda iberty which originated in Jersey City, N.J. The paper, which featured stories about the immigrant experience in the United States and

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, was widely read in Galicia and thus became the first major link between

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and Austrian Ukraine.”

Canada

In 1897, Dmytriw travelled from the United States to Canada at Joseph Oleskow’s request.Marunchak, M.H. The Ukrainian Canadians: A History. Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, Winnipeg, Ottawa, 1970, page 39. Through the Ruthenian National Association, Dmytriw arrived in April 1897 to serve the spiritual needs of the Ukrainian Canadian settlers. Able to speak

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and

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he became an interpreter for Canadian immigration. In Canadian history, Dmytriw's most notable contribution is in writing about the history and tribulations of early Ukrainian settlers.

Missionary work on the
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St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, the oldest surviving Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada, was built on the site where Father Dmytriw celebrated liturgy on April 12, 1897, shortly upon his arrival in Canada. The parishioners erected a large commemorative cross on the site, and at Dmytriw's suggestion, a log church was built in 1898. The church has since been moved from its original location in the Trembowla area,

Rural Municipality of Dauphin Dauphin is a rural municipality in the Parkland Region of Manitoba, Canada. The municipality surrounds the separately administered city of Dauphin, and lies just north of Riding Mountain National Park, part of which extends into the RM. Commun ...

. In the fall of 1897, Father Dmytriw spoke up in an article in the

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as ...

defending the Ukrainian immigrants, deflecting a scathing attack on them by another newspaper. Travelling among them as he did, he was able to describe their industriousness and their well-managed homesteads.Marunchak, M.H. The Ukrainian Canadians: A History. Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, Winnipeg, Ottawa, 1970, page 75.

The Ruthenians

REV. NESTOR DMYTROW TELLS OF THE ALBERTA COLONY.

Prosperity of the Early Settlers and Poverty of the Most Recent – Destitute Ones Should not Be Sent There –

Dmytriw’s records showed 15 families, with children, 78 persons, were settled in Trembowla, the oldest Ukrainian settlement in the vicinity of Dauphin in 1897. In

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, the population was 200, some spending their winter in the Immigration Hall, waiting to leave for their homesteads in spring, while others had decided to stay in the city and were looking for employment.Marunchak, M.H. The Ukrainian Canadians: A History. Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, Winnipeg, Ottawa, 1970, page 40. As the first Ukrainian priest to visit the prairies, Dmytriw began organizing the first Ukrainian religious groups in the area.Marunchak, M.H. The Ukrainian Canadians: A History. Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, Winnipeg, Ottawa, 1970, page 162. While in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

in 1897, Dmytriw was informed by

Bishop Legal A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

that, “It would be impossible to have two Catholic churches in Canada.” Dmytriw advised the Ukrainian immigrants to be wary of the French clergy, when Legal “secured land for the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Edna-Star, then tried to have it registered with his episcopal corporation without consulting the settlers.” Martynowych, Orest T. Ukrainians in Canada: The Formative Period, 1891-1924. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1991, page 184. When living in Canada, Dmytriw worked at the immigration bureau in

. This helped him in his religious endeavors, giving him the funds to travel throughout the western provinces. The Ukrainian settlers were poor and could not help him in this respect.Marunchak, M.H. The Ukrainian Canadians: A History. Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, Winnipeg, Ottawa, 1970, page 101.

Departure

Dmytriw was only in Canada until August 1898. During his stay, he organized the first Ukrainian parishes in Trembowla, Manitoba,

Stuartburn, Manitoba Stuartburn is a small, primarily Ukrainian community in southeastern Manitoba, Canada and situated in the Rural Municipality of Stuartburn. Stuartburn is considered to be the first Ukrainian community in western Canada. The town is located west ...

, and

Edna, Alberta The Edna-Star colony, also called the Nebyliv colony, or the ''Ukrainian block settlement'' is the largest and oldest of the Ukrainian Canadian block settlements. Located east of Edmonton, in east-central Alberta, the boundaries of the block set ...

and was an advocate of a separate Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada. This was initially opposed by the Canadian Catholic hierarchy, especially Archbishop Adélard Langevin, but came to fruition with the appointment of Nykyta Budka as apostolic exarch for Ukrainian Canadian Catholics. Father Nestor Dmytriw died on May 27, 1925, in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a city and the county seat of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New J ...

References

Bibliography

* Martynowych, Orest T. ''Ukrainians in Canada: The Formative Period, 1891-1924''. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1991. * Marunchak, Michael, H. ''The Ukrainian Canadians: A History'', Winnipeg, Ottawa: Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, 1970. *Gerus, Oleh W. “Nestor Dmytriw”, Dictionary of Canadian Biography. *Subtelny, Orest. ''Ukrainians In North America, An Illustrated History'', University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1991.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dmytriw, Nestor 1863 births 1925 deaths 19th-century American clergy 19th-century Austrian clergy 19th-century Canadian civil servants 19th-century Eastern Catholic clergy 20th-century American clergy 20th-century Eastern Catholic clergy American Eastern Catholics American expatriate writers in Canada American people of Ukrainian descent Austrian Eastern Catholics Austrian expatriates in Canada Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States Writers from Austria-Hungary Christian clergy in Canada Immigrant rights activists Members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Clergy from Ternopil Oblast Clergy from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria 19th-century travel writers Ukrainian Austro-Hungarians Ukrainian Canadian religion Eastern Catholic priests from Austria-Hungary Eastern Catholic missionaries Missionaries Christian missionaries in Canada