Slovak Greek Catholic Church

Last updated
Slovak Greek Catholic Church
Presov5.JPG
Classification Eastern Catholic
Orientation Eastern Christianity
Theology Catholic theology
Polity Episcopal
Governance Metropolitanate
Pope Francis
Primate Metropolitan Ján Babjak
Associations Congregation for the Oriental Churches
Region Slovakia, with communities in Canada
Liturgy Byzantine Rite
Headquarters Prešov, Slovakia
Members211,820 [1]
Other name(s)Slovak Byzantine Catholic Church

The Slovak Greek Catholic Church (Slovak: Gréckokatolícka cirkev na Slovensku, "Greek-Catholic Church in Slovakia"), or Slovak Byzantine Catholic Church, is a Metropolitan sui iuris Eastern particular Church in full union with the Catholic Church. Its liturgical rite is the Byzantine Rite. L'Osservatore Romano of January 31, 2008 reported that, in Slovakia alone, it had some 350,000 faithful, 374 priests and 254 parishes. In addition, the 2012 Annuario Pontificio gave its Canadian Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto as having 2,000 faithful, 4 priests and 5 parishes. [2] The Slovak Greek Catholic Church is in full communion with the Holy See.

Contents

History

Since the unanimous acceptance of the Union of Uzhhorod on the territory that includes present day eastern Slovakia in 1646, the history of the Slovak Greek Catholic Church was intertwined with that of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church for a period of several centuries. At the end of World War I, most Greek Catholic Ruthenians and Slovaks were included within the territory of Czechoslovakia, including two eparchies, Prešov and Mukačevo. The eparchy of Prešov, created on September 22, 1818, was removed in 1937 from the jurisdiction of the Hungarian primate and subjected directly to the Holy See, while the 21 parishes of the eparchy of Prešov that were in Hungary were formed into the new exarchate of Miskolc.

After World War II, the eparchy of Mukačevo in Transcarpathia was annexed by the Soviet Union, thus the eparchy of Prešov included all the Greek Catholics that remained in Czechoslovakia. After communists seized the country in April 1950, a "synod" was convoked at Prešov, at which five priests and a number of laymen signed a document declaring that the union with Rome was disbanded and asking to be received into the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, later the Orthodox Church of Czechoslovakia. Greek Catholic bishop Blessed Pavel Petro Gojdič of Prešov along with his auxiliary, Blessed Basil Hopko, were imprisoned and bishop Gojdič died in prison in 1960.

During the Prague Spring in 1968, the former Greek Catholic parishes were allowed to restore communion with Rome. Of the 292 parishes involved, 205 voted in favor. This was one of the few reforms by Dubček that survived the Soviet invasion the same year. However, most of their church buildings remained in the hands of Orthodox Church.

After communism was overthrown in the 1989 Velvet Revolution, Church property was gradually returned to the Slovak Greek Catholic Church. This process was almost completed by 1993, the year after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. For Greek Catholics in the Czech Republic, a separate Apostolic Vicariate was created, elevated in 1996 to an exarchate thus forming the Apostolic Exarchate in the Czech Republic (now considered part of Ruthenian Catholic Church); the 2007 Annuario Pontificio indicated that it had by then grown to having 177,704 faithful, 37 priests and 25 parishes.

In Slovakia itself, Pope John Paul II created an Apostolic Exarchate of Košice in 1997. Pope Benedict XVI raised this to the level of an Eparchy on January 30, 2008 and at the same time erected the new Byzantine-rite Eparchy of Bratislava. He also raised Prešov to the level of a metropolitan see, constituting the Slovak Greek Catholic Church as a sui iuris metropolitan Church.

Structure

Eparchies in Slovakia SK dieceze reckokat SK.jpg
Eparchies in Slovakia

Slovakia:

Canada:

Abroad

In the United States, the Slovak Greek Catholics are not distinguished from the Ruthenians. Nonetheless, they have an eparchy in Canada, the Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto.

Related Research Articles

Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia Christian Orthodox-oriented jurisdiction in the Czechia and Slovak republic

The Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia is a self-governing body of the Eastern Orthodox Church that territorially covers the countries of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Archbishop Rastislav of Prešov was elected by the Extraordinary Synod held on January 11, 2014, as the new primate. On December 9, 2013, the Synod removed Archbishop Simeon (Jakovlevic) of Brno and Olomouc from his position as Locum Tenens, and appointed Archbishop Rastislav in his place, an action against which Archbishop Simeon protested and which was deplored by Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople.

Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church an Eastern Catholic church of the Byzantine Rite

The Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, also known in the United States as the Byzantine Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church that uses the Byzantine Rite for its liturgies, laws, and cultural identity. It is one of the 23 Eastern Catholic churches that are in full communion with the Holy See. There are two main communities within the church: American and European. In the United States, the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh is self-governing. In Europe, Ruthenian Catholics are immediately subject to the Holy See. The European branch has an eparchy in Ukraine and another in the Czech Republic.

The Byzantine Catholic Metropolia of Pittsburgh is part of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church in the United States.

Greek Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia

The Greek Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia is a particular Eastern Catholic Church of the Byzantine Rite which is in full union with the Catholic Church. It consists of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Križevci, covering Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Ruski Krstur, covering Serbia. The Eparchy of Križevci was headed by Bishop Nikola Kekić until his retirement in March 2019, and since then the eparchy is governed by apostolic administrator Milan Stipić. The Eparchy of Ruski Krstur is headed by Bishop Đura Džudžar since his appointment in 2003.

Catholic Church in Slovakia

The Catholic Church in Slovakia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.

Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God, Košice church building in Košice, Slovakia

The Greek Catholic Cathedral Church of Virgin Mary's Birth is located at Moyzesova Street in the historic centre of Košice, Slovakia. It is the cathedral of the Eparchy of Košice.

Hungarian Greek Catholic Church Metropolitan sui iuris Eastern particular Church in full union with the Catholic Church

The Hungarian Greek Catholic Church or Hungarian Byzantine Catholic Church is a Metropolitan sui iuris ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic particular Church in full communion with the Catholic Church. It is headquartered in Debrecen. Its liturgical rite is the Byzantine Rite in Hungarian.

Stephen John Kocisko was the first Metropolitan Archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, the American branch of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church

Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh archeparchy

The Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh is the Catholic archeparchy (archdiocese) governing all of the Byzantine Catholic (Ruthenian) Church in the western portion of Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and in the states of Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. Its chancery office and the residence of the Archbishop are located at 66 Riverview Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is distinguished from the Latin Church Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Passaic eparchy

The Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic is the Catholic eparchy (diocese) governing Byzantine Ruthenian (Rusyn) Catholics in the eastern United States. Its headquarters are at 445 Lackawanna Avenue, Woodland Park, New Jersey. On October 29, 2013, Pope Francis appointed Father Kurt Burnette, until then the Rector of Saints Cyril and Methodius Seminary, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as Eparch (Bishop)-elect of the Eparchy, succeeding William Skurla, who had become the leader of the Byzantine Catholic (Ruthenian) Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, the U.S. headquarters of this particular Eastern-rite Catholic church. Bishop-elect Burnette, 57, is a native of Falkenham, England, grew up in Texas, and was originally a priest of the Phoenix Eparchy.

Slovak Catholic Metropolitan Archeparchy of Prešov Byzantine catholic archeparchy in Prešov in full union with Rome founded in 1818

The Slovak (Greek) Catholic Archeparchy of Prešov is the Metropolitan archeparchy of the Byzantine Rite Slovak Greek Catholic Church which covers the territory of the Prešov Region.

Pavel Peter Gojdič Greek Catholic Basilian monk

Pavel Peter Gojdič, was a Rusyn-Slovak Basilian monk and the eparch of the Slovak Catholic Eparchy of Prešov. He was martyred by the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2001 and recognised as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 2007.

Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo eparchy

The Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo is an eparchy (diocese) associated with the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church under an unidentified status and territory located in the west of Ukraine, roughly equivalent with Zakarpatska Oblast. The eparchy was created by the Pope Clement XIV in 1771.

Ruthenian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Czech Republic apostolic exarchate

The Ruthenian (Greek) Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of the Czech Republic, also known as the Apostolic Exarchate in the Czech Republic, is an Eastern Catholic institution overseeing Catholics of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church. It uses the localized Byzantine Rite in archaic Slavonic language and is based in the Czech Republic.

Slovak Catholic Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto eparchy

Slovak Catholic Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto is an Eparchy for Byzantine-rite Eastern Catholics of Slovak origin in Canada. It is part of the Slovak Greek Catholic Church sui iuris, however it is not suffragan to the metropolitan Archeparchy of Prešov, but it is subject immediately to the Congregation for the Eastern Churches. Its territory is extended on the whole territory of Canada. Its bishop is member of the Council of Hierarchs of the Slovak Greek Catholic Church sui iuris.

John Stephen Pazak American bishop

John Stephen Pazak, C.Ss.R. is an American-born member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, commonly known as the Redemptorists, who serves as an eparch of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church. Since July 2016 he has served as the Eparch of the Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Protection of Mary, which is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Milan Chautur The first eparch the Eparchy of Košice

Bishop Milan Chautur, C.Ss.R. is a Slovak Greek Catholic hierarch, who has served as the first Eparchial Bishop of the newly created Slovak Catholic Eparchy of Košice since 30 January 2008. Previously he served as Titular Bishop of Cresima and an Auxiliary Bishop of the Slovak Catholic Eparchy of Prešov from 11 January 1992 until 27 January 1997 and as Apostolic Exarch of the Apostolic Exarchate of Košice from 29 January 1997 until 30 January 2008.

Ján Eugen Kočiš Czech bishop

Bishop Ján Eugen Kočiš was a Slovak-Czech Ruthenian Greek Catholic hierarch, who served as a Titular Bishop of Abrittum and an Auxiliary Bishop of the Ruthenian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Czech Republic from 24 April 2004 until 7 October 2006.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.cnewa.org/source-images/Roberson-eastcath-statistics/eastcatholic-stat16.pdf
  2. ↑ Annuario Pontificio 2012 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2012 ISBN   978-88-209-8722-0). p. 630

Sources

Coordinates: 48°59′39″N21°14′36″E / 48.9942°N 21.2432°E / 48.9942; 21.2432

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.