The Diocese of Odesa-Simferopol ( la, Odesensis-Sympheropolitanus) is a

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ecclesiastical territory or

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

of 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 ...

in southern

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 ...

and

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

. A significant part of the

Latin Church in Ukraine , native_name_lang=, image=30x41---.jpg, imagewidth=, alt=, caption= Archcathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lviv, abbreviation=LCiU, RCCiU, type=, main_classification=Catholic, orientation=Western Christianity, sc ...

, it covers an area equivalent to about one-third the size of Poland including areas impacted by

2014 Crimean crisis In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The Revolution of Dign ...

, and the

2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine From the end of February 2014, demonstrations by pro-Russian and anti-government groups took place in major cities across the Eastern Ukraine, eastern and Southern Ukraine, southern regions of Ukraine in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dig ...

. Since 2014, there has been a de facto inter-state border that splits the diocese.

Bronislaw Bernacki Bronislaw Bernacki (born September 30, 1944, Murafa, Vinnytsia oblast, Ukraine) was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Odesa-Simferopol diocese from 2002 to 2020. Biography He studied at the Catholic Seminary of Riga. Bernacki was ordained to the p ...

is the current bishop of the

. He was appointed to the

See See or SEE may refer to: * Sight - seeing Arts, entertainment, and media * Music: ** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals *** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See'' ** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho * Television * ...

of Odesa-Simferopol in May 2002 and is based in

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...

. Jacek Pyl is an auxiliary bishop and is based in

Simferopol Simferopol () is the second-largest city in the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, and is considered the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. However, ...

History

The history of the diocese begins in 2002, when the diocese of Odesa-Simferopol was erected from the Diocese of Kamyanets-Podilskyi. The diocese's "basic work" began about the time of the

Fall of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

in 1991. Auxiliary bishop Pyl described the diocese in 2014 as “missionary territory” with “many challenges.” He reported that there were about 64 priests and 3,000 faithful in the diocese. In 2014, in Crimea there were seven parishes and 13 priests and masses were celebrated mainly in Russian but also in English, Spanish, Ukrainian, and Polish. As of 2014, Simferopol does not have a co-cathedral. “We have been waiting for the last 20 years to get permission to build a church,” Bishop Pyl is quoted as saying. Plans for a co-cathedral had been underway but were put on hold following Russian annexation of Crimea.

Geography

The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Lviv of the Latins.

Bishops

*Bishop

(4 May 2002 – 18 February 2020) **Auxiliary Bishop

Petro Herkulan Malchuk Petro Herkulan Malchuk, O.F.M. ( uk, Петро Геркулан Мальчук; ''pol. Piotr Malczuk'' 7 July 1965 – 27 May 2016) was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kyiv-Zhytomyr. Life Malchuk was born in Slobozia-Rașcov in the Moldovan ...

, O.F.M. (29 March 2008 – 15 June 2011) **Auxiliary Bishop Jacek Pyl,

O.M.I. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...

(23 November 2012 – ) *Coadjutor Bishop

Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk, O.F.M. ( uk, Станіслав Широкорадюк, ''pol. Stanisław Szyrokoradiuk''; born 23 June 1956) is a Ukrainian prelate of the Catholic Church who became Bishop of Odessa-Simferopol since February 2020 after ...

, O.F.M. (2 February 2019 – 18 February 2020) *Bishop Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk (18 February 2020 – present)

Footnotes

External links

Diocesan website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odessa-Simferopol Odessa-Simferopol Religion in Odesa Religion in Crimea Christian organizations established in 2002 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 21st century 2002 establishments in Ukraine

History

Geography

Bishops

See also

Footnotes

External links