Eastern Rite - Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

Today is the Sunday of the Prodigal Son and the Feast of Holy Wonderworkers and Unmercenaries Cyrus and John, and the Holy Martyrs Athanasia and her daughters Theoctista, Theodota, and Eudoxia, at Canopus in Egypt.

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The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC; Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church; Українська Греко-Католицька Церква (УГКЦ), romanized: Ukrajins'ka Hreko-Katolic'ka Cerkva, lit. 'Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church'; Latin: Ecclesia Graeco-Catholica Ucrainae) is a Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Pope of Rome and the worldwide Catholic Church. It is the second-largest particular church (sui juris) in the Catholic Church, second only to the Roman Catholic Church. It is part of the Major Archiepiscopal Churches of the Catholic Church that are not distinguished with a patriarchal title.

The church is one of the successor churches to the acceptance of Christianity by Grand Prince Vladimir the Great of Kyiv, in 988. It appeared in 1596 with the signing of the Union of Brest between the Ruthenian Orthodox Church (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) led by Michael Rohoza and the Holy See. Following the partitions of Poland, in 1808 the eparchies of the original Ruthenian Uniate Church (Latin: Ecclesia Ruthena unita) were split three ways between the Austrian Empire (3), Prussia (1), and the Russian Empire (5). Those three eparchies under Austrian jurisdiction were reorganized as the Greek Catholic Church soon after liquidation of all five eparchies that ended up in Russia. Established in 1807 the Greek Catholic Church in Austria became the only survivor of the original Uniate church of the Brest Union.

In 1963 the church was recognized as Ukrainian through the efforts of Yosyf Slipyi.

The ordinary (or hierarch) of the church holds the title of Major archbishop of Kyiv-Halych and All Ruthenia, though the hierarchs and faithful of the church have acclaimed their ordinary as "Patriarch" and have requested Papal recognition of, and elevation to, this title. Major archbishop is a unique title within the Catholic Church that was introduced in 1963 as part of the church title hierarchy. Since March 2011 the head of the church is Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is the largest Eastern Catholic Church in the world. Currently it has approximately 4.1 million members. Within Ukraine itself, the UGCC is the second largest religious organization in terms of number of communities within the Catholic church. In terms of number of members, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church ranks third in allegiance among the population of Ukraine after the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Currently, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church predominates in three western oblasts of Ukraine, including the majority of the population of Lviv, but constitutes a small minority elsewhere in the country. The church has followed the spread of the Ukrainian diaspora and now has some 40 hierarchs in over a dozen countries on four continents, including three other metropolitan bishops in Poland, the United States, and Canada.

Given the size of the UGCC I will not attempt to list the statistics of individual Eparchies as I normally do, but here's a quick glance. The Church consists of,

• Major Archbishop Svyatoslav Shevchuk
  • Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan of Kyiv – Galicia (2005)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Kyiv (Latin: Archidioecesis Kioviensis, previously as uniate diocese, 1996)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Donetsk (2002)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Odessa (2003)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Lutsk (previously as uniate diocese, 2008)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Crimea (2014 as administration in Odessa)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Kharkiv (2014)
  • Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan of Lviv (1808 – 2005, 2011)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Lviv (Latin: Archidioecesis Leopolitana Ucrainorum, 1539 – 1946, 1989)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Sambir–Drohobych (1993)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Zboriv (1993 – 2000)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stryi (2000)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Sokal–Zhovkva (2000)
  • Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan of Ternopil – Zboriv (2011)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Ternopil–Zboriv (1993)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Buchach (2000)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Kamyanets-Podilskyi (previously as united diocese, 2015)
  • Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan of Ivano-Frankivsk (2011)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Ivano-Frankivsk (1885 – 1946, 1989)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Kolomyia (1993)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Chernivtsi (2017)
  • Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan of Przemyśl–Warsaw (Poland, 1996)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Przemyśl–Warsaw (1087 – 1946, 1996)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Wrocław-Koszalin (1996)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Olsztyn–Gdańsk (2020)
  • Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan of Winnipeg (Canada, 1956)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Winnipeg (1912)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton (1948)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Toronto and Eastern Canada (1948)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon (1951)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of New Westminster (1974)
  • Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan of Philadelphia (United States, 1958)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia (1913)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford (1956)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Chicago (1961)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Parma (1983)
  • Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan of Curitiba (Brazil, 2014)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Curitiba (1962)
    • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Prudentópolis (2014)
  • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Buenos Aires (Argentina, 1968)
  • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Melbourne (Australia, New Zealand and Oceania, 1958)
  • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London (England, Scotland and Wales, 1957)
  • Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saint Wladimir-Le-Grand de Paris (France, Switzerland and Benelux, 1960)
  • Ukrainian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Germany and Scandinavia* (1959)
  • Ukrainian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Italy* (2019)

* Directly subject to the Holy See

As of 2014, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is estimated to have 4,468,630 faithful, 39 bishops, 3993 parishes, 3008 diocesan priests, 399 religious-order priests, 818 men religious, 1459 women religious, 101 deacons, and 671 seminarians.

Statistics for individual Dioceses may be found on the Catholic-Hierarchy.org website by clicking on the Ukrainian Catholic Church (Current Dioceses) page and selecting the individual Diocese desired.