Tin Can Cathedral

The Tin Can Cathedral ( uk, Бляшана Катедра, translit=Blyashana Katedra) was the first independent Ukrainian church in North America. It was the heart of the Seraphimite Church. Founded in Winnipeg, it had no affiliation with any church in Europe.

Ukrainian immigrants began arriving in Canada in 1891 mainly from the Austro-Hungarian provinces, the regions of Bukovina and Galicia. The new arrivals from Bukovina were Eastern Orthodox, those from Galicia Eastern Catholic. In either case it was the Byzantine Rite with which they were familiar. By 1903 the Ukrainian immigrant population in Western Canada had become large enough to attract the attention of religious leaders, politicians, and educationalists.

Principals

The central character in the Ukrainian community in Winnipeg at the time was Cyril Genik (1857–1925). He came from Galicia, having graduated from the Ukrainian Academic Gymnasium in Lviv and studied law briefly at the University of Chernivtsi.Martynowych, Orest T. ''Ukrainians in Canada: The Formative Period, 1891-1924''. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1991, page 170. Genik was a friend of Ivan Franko, the Ukrainian author of "Лис Микита" (Fox Mykyta) who was nominated for the Nobel Prize In Literature. Franko's biting satire on the Western Ukrainian clergy of his day and his socialist leanings were probably shared by Genik who happened to be best man at the author's wedding. Freeing the populace of the clergy, along with land reform, was a way to free the peasantry from the yoke of absentee-landlords who maintained control of the land with the collusion of the hierarchy of the church. Upon his arrival in Canada, Genik became the first Ukrainian to be employed by the Canadian government, and worked as an immigration agent taking new settlers out to their homesteads. Genik's cousin Ivan Bodrug (1874–1952) and Bodrug's friend Ivan Negrich (1875–1946) also came from the village of Bereziv in the county of Kolomyia and were qualified as primary school teachers in Galicia. These three men constituted the nucleus of the intelligentsia in the Ukrainian community, and were known as the "Березівська Трійця" ( ''Berezivs'ka Triitsya'') (the "Bereziv Triumvirate"). Genik, the oldest, was the only one of the three already married. His wife Pauline (''née'' Tsurkowsky) was the daughter of a priest, an educated woman, and they had three sons and three daughters.

The other principal character was Bishop Seraphim, whose real name was Stefan Ustvolsky. Ustvolsky ended by being defrocked by the Russian Holy Synod in the Imperial capital of Saint Petersburg. But his story begins when, for personal reasons, he traveled to Mount Athos where he was consecrated a Bishop by the Holy Anphim, who claimed to be a bishop. The Holy Anphim ordained Ustvolsky to spite the Tsar, as at this time there was a struggle taking place between the Holy Synod and the Tsar for control of the Russian Orthodox Church (or at least this was the story he brought with him to the New World).Mitchell, Nick. Ukrainian-Canadian History as Theatre in ''The Ukrainian Experience in Canada: Reflections 1994'', Editors: Gerus, Oleh W.; Gerus-Tarnawecka, Iraida; Jarmus, Stephan, The Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in Canada, Winnipeg. Having been consecrated a bishop, Seraphim traveled to North America, briefly staying with Ukrainian priests in Philadelphia. By the time he arrived in Winnipeg, he had no allegiances to the Russian Orthodox Church or anyone else. The Ukrainians on the prairies accepted him as a traveling holy man, a tradition which goes back to the very beginnings of Christianity.Mitchell, Nick. ''The Mythology of Exile in Jewish, Mennonite and Ukrainian Canadian Writing in A Sharing of Diversities''. Proceedings of the Jewish Mennonite Ukrainian Conference, "Building Bridges", General Editor: Stambrook, Fred, Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina, 1999, page 188.

Another person who participated in the events which culminated in the creation of the Tin Can Cathedral was Seraphim's assistant Makarii Marchenko. Marchenko acted as a deacon or cantor, helping Seraphim with the church services which he knew well. He arrived with Seraphim from the United States. Archbishop Adélard Langevin, who was located in St. Boniface, was the head of the Roman Catholic diocese in Western Canada, in direct contact with Pope Pius X in Rome. He believed that his priests were more than adequate for the needs of the Ukrainian population.Martynowych, Orest T. ''Ukrainians in Canada: The Formative Period, 1891-1924''. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1991 Other players included Dr. William Patrick, head of Manitoba College, a Presbyterian college in Winnipeg; the Liberal Party of Manitoba; and Russian Orthodox missionaries with Bishop Tikhon as the Head of the Russian Orthodox Mission in North America.

Events

In 1902, a member of the Manitoba legislature, Joseph Bernier, introduced a bill "conveying properties of the Greek Ruthenian (Ukrainians were also known as Ruthenians) Church in Communion with Rome into the control of corporations under control of the Church of Rome." Archbishop Langevin declared "the Ruthenians must prove themselves Catholics by turning property over to the church, and not like Protestants …to an individual or committee of laymen, independent of the priest or bishop." The size of the Ukrainian population on the prairies had also attracted the interest of Russian Orthodox Missionaries. At this time the Russian Orthodox Church was spending $100,000 a year for missionary work in North America. As well, the Presbyterian Church had become interested and invited young men from the Ukrainian community to attend Manitoba College (today the University of Winnipeg) where special classes were established for young Ukrainians who wished to become school teachers (and later Independent Greek Church ministers). Fluent in the German language, Dr. King, the Principal of the College, interviewed the candidates Bodrug and Negrich in German. Genik translated their scholastic documents in writing from Polish into English. They became the first Ukrainian students of a university in North America – Manitoba College at this time was part of the University of Manitoba

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