The Apostolic Exarchate of Łemkowszczyzna ( pl, Egzarchat Apostolski Łemkowszczyzny; uk, Апостольський Екзархат Лемківщини) was a short-lived missionary pre-diocesan jurisdiction (exempt, i.e. immediately subject to 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 ...

) of the

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , native_name_lang = uk , caption_background = , image = StGeorgeCathedral Lviv.JPG , imagewidth = , type = Particular church (sui iuris) , alt = , caption = St. George's ...

( Byzantine Rite in

Ukrainian language Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state lan ...

), which was created as the ''Apostolic Administration of Łemkowszczyzna'' and then promoted as an

Apostolic Exarchate An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'', meaning “leader”) was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and e ...

. The erection of the jurisdiction was in response to the question of the national character of the Lemko people, a dispute between a pro-Ukrainian party and a Lemko nationalist party. The Eparchy of Przemyśl was pro-Ukrainian while the Polish government was opposed to Ukrainianization. Of a population of 140,000, more than 18,000 Lemko nationalists joined the

Orthodox Church Orthodox Church may refer to: * Eastern Orthodox Church * Oriental Orthodox Churches * Orthodox Presbyterian Church * Orthodox Presbyterian Church of New Zealand * State church of the Roman Empire * True Orthodox church See also * Orthodox (di ...

in opposition to the Przemyśl Eparchy. At the demand of the Polish government and to curtail losses to the Orthodox, the Holy See established a separate Apostolic Administration for the Lemkos. Poland's defeat and occupation in 1939 allowed for the appointment of the pro-Ukrainian Msgr. Oleksandr Malynovskyi as leader of the jurisdiction when a vacancy occurred in 1941. Greckokatolicka metropolia lwowska 1939

Timeline

* February 10, 1934: Established as ''the

Apostolic Administration An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of Łemkowszczyzna'' on territory of the 9 western

deaneries A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

, that split off from the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Przemyśl, Sambir and Sanok. * February 1941: Promoted as ''the Apostolic Exarchate of Łemkowszczyzna''. * De facto abolished (suppressed) by the Polish Communist government after the expulsion of Ukrainians from Poland to the Soviet Union in 1944–1945 and

Operation Vistula Operation Vistula ( pl, Akcja Wisła; uk, Опера́ція «Ві́сла») was a codename for the 1947 forced resettlement of 150,000 Ukrainians (Boykos and Lemkos) from the south-eastern provinces of post-war Poland, to the Recovered Te ...

in July 1947.Ukrainian Apostolic Exarchate of Łemkowszczyzna
GCatholic. * January 16, 1991: Officially suppressed and its territory merged into the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Przemyśl.

Apostolic Administrators and Apostolic Exarches

; ''Apostolic Administrators'' of Łemkowszczyzna * Fr. Vasyl Mastsiukh (November 17, 1934 – death March 12, 1936) * Fr.

Yakiv Medvetskyi Very Reverend Yakiv Medvetskyi ( uk, Яків Медвецький; pl, Jakub Medwecki; 7 January 1880 in Tsvitova, Austro-Hungarian Empire /present day in Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine/ – 27 January 1941 in Kraków, General Governmen ...

(July 3, 1936 – death January 27, 1941) * Msgr. Oleksandr Malynovskyi (February 5, 1941 – February 1941 ''see below'') ; ''Apostolic Exarch'' of Łemkowszczyzna * Msgr. Oleksandr Malynovskyi (''see above'' February 1941 – September 1945) (later

Vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...

for the Ukrainians in Great Britain)

Source and External links

GCatholic.org information on the Apostolic Exarchate

Shematismus of the Apostolic Exarchate
(Ukrainian)

References

Lemkowszczyzna Christian organizations established in 1934 Lemko Region {{UkrainianGreekCatholic-diocese-stub