Kamenica (

Cyrillic The Cyrillic script ( ) is a writing system used for various languages across Eurasia. It is the designated national script in various Slavic, Turkic, Mongolic, Uralic, Caucasian and Iranic-speaking countries in Southeastern Europe, Ea ...

: Каменица) is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Čelinac Čelinac ( sr-Cyrl, Челинац) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality has a population of 15,548 inhabitants, while the town of Čelinac has a population of 5,097 inhabitants. Ge ...

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Former Ukrainian monastery and farming community

During the early 20th century, the Government of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

settled a community of

Rusyns Rusyns, also known as Carpatho-Rusyns, Carpatho-Russians, Ruthenians, or Rusnaks, are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group from the Carpathian Rus', Eastern Carpathians in Central Europe. They speak Rusyn language, Rusyn, an East Slavic lan ...

and

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

, all of whom belonged to the

Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of ...

, in Kamenica. Beginning in 1908,

Metropolitan bishop In Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), is held by the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a Metropolis (reli ...

Andrey Sheptytsky Andrey Sheptytsky, OSBM (; ; 29 July 1865 – 1 November 1944) was the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Metropolitan of Galicia and Archbishop of Lviv from 1901 until his death in 1944. His tenure in office spanned two world wars and six political r ...

of the

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is a Major archiepiscopal church, major archiepiscopal ''sui iuris'' ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic church that is based in Ukraine. As a particular church of the Cathol ...

bought land nearby upon which he built a small monastery for the Ukrainian Studite Monks, which was dedicated to St. Joseph, the Spouse of the Mother of God and Foster Father of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. The spiritual formation of new arrivals was supervised by a Greek Catholic

Starets A starets ( ; ''fem.'' ) is an elder of an Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic monastery or convent who functions as venerated adviser and teacher. ''Elders'' or ''spiritual fathers'' are charism ...

named "Elder Josaphat. The monks included

Leonid Feodorov Leonid Ivanovich Feodorov (; 4 November 1879 – 7 March 1935) was a Studite hieromonk from the Russian Greek Catholic Church, the first Exarch of the Russian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Russia, and a survivor of the Gulag at Solovki pris ...

, the future

Exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'') 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 early Byzantine Empire, ...

of the

Russian Greek Catholic Church The Russian Greek Catholic Church or Russian Byzantine Catholic Church is a ''sui juris, sui iuris'' (self-governing) Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic particular church that is part of the worldwide Catholic Church. Hi ...

, who was tonsured at Kamenica under the monastic name 'Leontiy' on 12 March 1913. The Metropolitan's younger brother and fellow Studite monk

Klymentiy Sheptytsky Klymentiy Sheptytsky (, ; 17 November 1869 – 1 May 1951) also known as Klymentiy of Univ () was the archimandrite of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Order of Studite Monks and a hieromartyr. He was also the Russian Catholic Apostolic Exarch ...

, was also a monk at Kamenica and, along with Leonid Feodorov, was

Beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

on 27 June 2001. Even though the monastery was always extremely impoverished, the Studite monks were eventually forced to flee the region due to the hostility of local members of the

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodox Church#Constit ...

. Even though Metropolitan Andrey still owned the land, his attempts to revive the monastery between 1923 and 1924 were repeatedly stymied by the post-

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Government of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

. Cyril Korolevsky (1993), ''Metropolitan Andrew (1865-1944)'', Stauropegion, Lviv. Volume 1. Pages 280-281.

References

Eastern Catholicism in Bosnia and Herzegovina Populated places in Čelinac Rusyn diaspora Rusyn history Studite Brethren monasteries Ukrainian Catholic monasteries Ukrainian diaspora in Serbia Villages in Republika Srpska {{Čelinac-geo-stub