Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine
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. It includes four north-eastern Ukrainian towns,
Sumy
Sumy ( uk, Суми ) is a city of regional significance in Ukraine, and the capital of Sumy Oblast. The city is situated on the banks of the Psel River in northeastern Ukraine with a population of according to the 2021 census, making it the 23 ...
Konotop
Konotop ( uk, Конотоп ) is a city in Sumy Oblast in northeastern Ukraine. Konotop serves as the administrative center of Konotop Raion. Konotop is located about 129 km from Sumy, the oblast administrative center. It is host to K ...
and
Shostka
Shostka (, ) is a city in Sumy Oblast in the north-east of Ukraine. Shostka serves as the administrative center of Shostka Raion. It is administratively incorporated as a city of oblast significance and does not belong to the raion.
The city l ...
.
The center of the deanery is located on the high right bank of the
Psel River
The Psel (, translit. ''Psyol''; , translit. ''Psel, Ps'ol, Pslo'') is a river, a left tributary of the Dnieper, which flows through Russia and Ukraine.
The Psel has a length of and a drainage basin of .Dnieper
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The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and ...
), in one of the old districts in the heart of the ancient Ukrainian capital Sumy. In the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, the town was annexed by the possessions of the Orthodox monastery of St. Sophronius of the Wilderness (near Putivl). The unique cave
priory
A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...
, founded by the first Greek missionaries who came to
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
from
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, was razed almost to the ground in the 1960s by
communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
, the main church of the deanery, is located in Sumy.
Other significant Roman Catholic sites in the region include the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary in Romny, the Church of
Our Lady of Fatima
Our or OUR may refer to:
* The possessive form of " we"
* Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany
* Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium
* Our, Jura, a commune in France
* Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulat ...
in Konotop, and the Church of St. Joseph in Shostka.
Sumy
The history of the comparatively new Roman Catholic parish in town Sumy is dramatic. It faced a number of ordeals while
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 ...
was part 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, ...
. At the end of the 19th century Roman Catholics in Sumy had decided to build their own church, which was approved in 1900 with the aid of famous patron Maecenas Paul Kharitonenko (1853–1914), at whose sugar refineries, the largest in Europe and Russia, worked many specialists from Europe, chiefly Roman Catholics from Poland and the Czech Republic. The Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Gothic style, was built in 1901. "...All attempts to find information about the building process as well as its interior have been unsuccessful" to date. Consecrated in 1911 by Jan Tsepliak,
bishop
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 c ...
of
Mogilev
Mogilev (russian: Могилёв, Mogilyov, ; yi, מאָלעוו, Molev, ) or Mahilyow ( be, Магілёў, Mahilioŭ, ) is a city in eastern Belarus, on the Dnieper River, about from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from the bor ...
, the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was closed by authorities two decades later, and was not used as intended. After
World War II
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 opposing ...
, a museum, then a gym, were located there for 50 years. Only after the fall of the USSR was the church again used as a Roman Catholic church and in spring 1998 it was solemnly reconsecrated.
The first masses (1911–1915) at the church were led by parish priest Fr. Theodor Ryllo. He also gave lessons in religion at Alexander High School, 1st and 2nd High Schools, the technical educational institution and the military college in Sumy, and at the high school in Lebedin.
His successor (1916–1919) was chaplain Fr. A. Krzhivitsky, whose assistants during festivities were Fr. Florian Garaburda and Fr. Jozef Varpekhovsky.
The last registration was on November 20, 1919. Archive documents witness that on February 21, 1926, believers met to form a parish council and commission for inspections. The last mass before the church was closed down was held in 1932 by Fr. Vagonis. Some masses were conducted during the World War II.
Reformation, proclaimed by Mikhail Gorbachev, had enabled believers to begin the struggle of reviving the town's Roman Catholic parish. And soon, after Ukraine had found independence, at the end of 1991, the parish reopened.Sotnik A. N. This is our history. Chronicle-documentary work on religious life in Sumian Land in connection with history of Christianity in Ukraine. Rovno: Svitankova Zorja, 1997; p. 144.
In the beginning, parishioners gathered for services every two weeks (1991 – August 1992) conducted by the parish priest of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Diocese of Zhytomyr, Fr. Vitaly Skomarovsky. During his service, in May 1994, the building again began to be used as a church.
The following two parish priests were Fr. Gennadius Bilinsky (March 1995 – September 1997) and Fr. Felix Svintsitsky (September 1997 – August 1999). During the latter's service, the church was reconsecrated by the Bishop of Zhytomyr, Jan Purvinsky, on 25 March 1998.
The fourth parish priest (September 1999 – June 2006) was Fr. Stanislav Tanatarov.
For the celebration of the 2000th anniversary of Christmas, the Sacred Heart of Jesus Chapel (about high) was erected on the left side of the church's courtyard. A bronze statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary with an Infant in her arms was placed on the left side of the church and building behind it, where the residents of the parish priest and Roman Catholic religious mission are accommodated. Standing on a red brick pedestal with a quadrilateral base of black stone, surrounded by flowers, grass and trees, the polished figure is reminiscent of the
sacramental
A sacramental in Christianity is a material object or action (in Latin ''sacramentalia'') ritually blessed by a priest to signal its association with the sacraments and so to incite reverence during acts of worship. They are recognised by the Cat ...
.
Since 2002 the church's canteen has been operated by members of the
Secular Franciscan Order
The Secular Franciscan Order ( la, Ordo Franciscanus Saecularis; abbreviated OFS) is the third branch of the Franciscan Family formed by Catholic men and women who seek to observe the Gospel of Jesus by following the example of Francis of Assisi ...
, a branch of which has been based out of the parish since spring of 1999.
Tanatarov's successors were parish priest Fr. Arthur Surovsky (since 2006) and parish priest Fr. Voicheck Stasevich (since August 2008).
The church has successfully developed a Sunday School (with the aid of pious nuns), a library, theatre, museum, spiritual music band, and various groups, including spiritual culture groups.
For charitable work in the community, the parish of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary founded the Roman Catholic mission Caritas Spes Sumy, which acts as a branch of the All-Ukrainian Roman Catholic religious mission Caritas Spes Ukraina.
On February 6, 2008, and April 15, 2008, websites were created for the mission and parish under the titles ''Caritas Spes Sumy'' and ''Ave Maria'' to elucidate their activities. To support this aim, the parish publishes a bulletin named "Ave!" on the church's history and parish life. On September 29, 2008, the websites were closed by a decision of the new parish administration. Soon after, the parish began a new website, title ''To the Glory of Jesus Christ.''
On January 15, 2009, the author of the former websites ''Caritas Spes Sumy'' and ''Ave Maria'' created a website for the Sumian Historical Web Society under the title ''Ave Maria'' to elucidate different historical subjects, including the history of religion and the church.
Romny
The history of the Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Sumy depicts an example of the persecution of the Roman Catholic Church in the Soviet Union.
Likewise, the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary in Romny underwent a similar test. For a short period after the 1917–1923 Russian civil war, the church, in Romanesque architectural style, was confiscated. The chapel was subject to total destruction. Nothing remains of its existence but a strip of ruined wall, which in the past joined the chapel to the temple. The church was used for other purposes for decades (the Ministry of Education turned it over to the disposal of the polytechnic secondary school, which was housed on the premises.)
The parish could be content with very little–open-air services were conducted by a priest who came from Sumy, across the street in the courtyard which belonged to a married couple who had become parishioners. To return the church to the ownership of the
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 ...
was a difficult task. However, Fr. Stanislav Tanatarov, appointed to Sumy in September 1999, always considered it possible, and at a special conference convened in Romny he proclaimed his aspiration to reconsecrate the church. He initially succeeded in reclaiming the church's first floor and then the ground floor, the minister's house, and other edifices.
Konotop
The Church of Our Lady of Fatima, third in the Roman Catholic Deanery of Sumy, has come a long way before a new Roman Catholic church was constructed in 2005 in
Konotop
Konotop ( uk, Конотоп ) is a city in Sumy Oblast in northeastern Ukraine. Konotop serves as the administrative center of Konotop Raion. Konotop is located about 129 km from Sumy, the oblast administrative center. It is host to K ...
in modern style and consecrated.
Called Seven Winds by the local inhabitants, it is one of the town's sights owing to Jeff Woolthy, a young member of the Holy Apostles parish in
Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
, USA. He made the donation to the Church of Our Lady of Fatima in memory of his prematurely deceased wife. The parish priest of Konotop is Fr. Zbignev.
Shostka
The center of the fourth parish, a chapel named in honour of St. Joseph, is currently located in a private home in
Shostka
Shostka (, ) is a city in Sumy Oblast in the north-east of Ukraine. Shostka serves as the administrative center of Shostka Raion. It is administratively incorporated as a city of oblast significance and does not belong to the raion.
The city l ...