Edmonton and Western Canada | |
---|---|
Location | |
Ecclesiastical province | Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada |
Statistics | |
Churches | ≈60 |
Information | |
Cathedral | St. John, Edmonton Holy Trinity, Vancouver |
Current leadership | |
Bishop | Bishop Ilarion (Roman Rudnyk) |
The Western Eparchy is an eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, which itself is under the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
The Western Eparchy consists of the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and has about 60 churches (most of them country churches), and two cathedral churches (St. John's Cathedral, Edmonton, and Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral). [1]
In April 2022, just after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Western Eparchy formalized an agreement whereby they (and the larger UOCC) could send aid to Ukraine via the Orthodox Church of Ukraine directly. [2]
In 2023, the bishop for the eparchy was Ilarion (Roman Rudnyk), [3] and he is stylized as Bishop of Edmonton, and the Western Eparchy. The last serving bishop for the diocese was Metropolitan John (Stinka), who went on to become the UOCC's Metropolitan, and Archbishop of Winnipeg. John (Stinka) served in the capacity of "Bishop of Edmonton" for 20 years (1985–2005). He died in 2022. [4] Ilarion was elected as Bishop of Edmonton at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church's Sobor (Church Council) on August 23, 2008, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. This election was later ratified by the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Holy and Sacred Synod, and he was enthroned as Bishop of Edmonton on Sunday, October 26, 2008, at St. John's Cathedral by Metropolitan John.
On September 7, 2018, the Chief Secretariat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople Holy Synod announced the appointment of Bishop Hilarion and Archbishop Daniel of Pamphilon as ‘exarchs’ of the Patriarchate of Constantinople for Kiev. [5] [6]
The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly known simply as the Orthodox Church is a communion composed of up to seventeen separate autocephalous (self-governing) hierarchical churches that profess Eastern Orthodoxy and recognise each other as canonical (regular) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada is an Eastern Orthodox church in Canada, primarily consisting of Orthodox Ukrainian Canadians. Its former name was the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada (UGOCC). The Church, currently a metropolis of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, is part of the wider Eastern Orthodox communion, however was created independently in 1918.
The Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church, commonly known as the Polish Orthodox Church, or Orthodox Church of Poland, is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches in full communion. The church was established in 1924, to accommodate Orthodox Christians of Polish descent in the eastern part of the country, when Poland regained its independence after the First World War.
The Eparchy of Zahumlje, Herzegovina and the Littoral is an eparchy (diocese) of the Serbian Orthodox Church with its seat in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has jurisdiction over the region of Herzegovina, the littoral region of southern Dalmatia in Croatia and a small part of Montenegro. Since 2018, the bishop of Zahumlje and Herzegovina has been Dimitrije Rađenović.
Metropolitan Wasyly or Basil, was the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada (UOCC) from 1985 until his death in 2005.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), commonly referred to by the exonym Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), is an Eastern Orthodox church in Ukraine.
St. John Cathedral, in Edmonton, is the throne of the Bishop of the Western Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. The current bishop for the cathedral is Ilarion (Rudnyk).
The Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain is an archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Eastern Orthodox Church. The incumbent archeparch is Nikitas Loulias. Its jurisdiction covers those Orthodox Christians living in Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. The adherents are largely of Cypriot Greek descent, mainland Greek migrants and their descendants, and more recently native British converts along with a few Poles, Belarusians, and Ukrainians. The episcopal seat is the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom which is situated in the city of London.
Metropolitan John was the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada with title John, Archbishop of Winnipeg, and of the Central Diocese, Metropolitan of Canada. He was enthroned as Metropolitan of Canada on July 23, 2006.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA is a jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the United States. It consists of two eparchies (dioceses), ruled by two bishops, including about 85 active parishes and missions. The Church's current leader is Metropolitan Antony. The Church's head offices and Consistory are based in South Bound Brook, New Jersey.
Metropolitan Yurij (Kalistchuk) of Winnipeg and Canada, born George Kalistchuk in Lachine, Quebec, on May 26, 1951, is the current primate of the autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada.
The Major Archeparchy of Kyiv–Galicia (Kyiv–Halych) is a Ukrainian Greek Catholic Major Archeparchy of the Catholic Church, that is located in Ukraine. It was erected on 21 August 2005 with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI. There are other territories of the Church that are not located in Ukraine. The cathedral church — the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ — is situated in the city of Kyiv. The metropolitan bishop is — ex officio — the Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The incumbent major archbishop is Sviatoslav Shevchuk.
Metropolitan Hilarion was a bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York, First-Hierarch of the ROCOR since 18 May 2008; as the first person elected to that position following the Act of Canonical Communion between the ROCOR and the Russian Orthodox Church, he was the first whose election required approval by the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Metropolitan Ilarion is the metropolitan of the autonomous Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. Prior to his election to metropolitan, he was bishop of Edmonton and the Western eparchy.
Andriy Peshko is the Bishop of Toronto and of the Eastern Eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada.
Bishop Christophoros (Rakintzakis) (Greek: Θεοφιλέστατος Επίσκοπος Ανδίδων κ.κ. Χριστοφόρος), born George Rakintzakis (May 1, 1931, Athens, Greece – February 14, 2020, Greece), H.B.A., B.Div., B.Ed., M.A., was the first Vicar-Bishop of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada) under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (1999–2017), and the titular Bishop of Andida (1999–2020). He also served as the first Dean of the Toronto Orthodox Theological Academy from October 1997 through to June 2006. In addition, he was a brother of the historic Hosios Loukas monastery in Boeotia, Greece. He officially retired in 2017 and resided in Greece for the remainder of his life.
A schism between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople began on 15 October 2018 when the former unilaterally severed full communion with the latter.
In 1996 a schism between Moscow and Constantinople occurred; this schism began on 23 February 1996, when the Russian Orthodox Church severed full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and ended on 16 May 1996 when the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate reached an agreement.
On 5 January 2019, Bartholomew I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, signed the tomos that officially recognized and established the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and granted it autocephaly (self-governorship). The events immediately leading to the grant of autocephaly were:
On 15 October 2018, the Russian Orthodox Church broke the communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate because of a dispute concerning the canonical jurisdiction over Ukraine. This led to the 2018 Moscow–Constantinople schism. Numerous Orthodox churches took position concerning the dispute over the canonical jurisdiction over Ukraine, whether before or after this schism.