Canada's first Ukrainian Catholic metropolitan dies (05/12/96)

Canada's first Ukrainian Catholic metropolitan dies

by Christopher Guly

OTTAWA - Archbishop Maxim Hermaniuk, Canada's first Ukrainian Catholic metropolitan, who served in that capacity from 1957 to 1992, died in Winnipeg on May 3. He was 84.

A day earlier, Archbishop-Metropolitan Emeritus Maxim Hermaniuk of Winnipeg had mourned the loss of a good friend when talking with a reporter from The Winnipeg Free Press.

The Rev. Jaropolk Radkewycz, who died in a car crash outside Winnipeg on April 29 (see obituary on page 3) and who served as the former metropolitan's secretary, was a "really big loss for our archdiocese," said Archbishop Hermaniuk.

The next day, the archbishop was found dead in his room in the early morning hours. It is believed he passed away from natural causes.

"I think [the Rev. Radkewycz's death] took a tremendous toll on the metropolitan," said longtime friend Jean Sahan, who serves as secretary to St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Prayer services for Archbishop Hermaniuk were held at Ss. Vladimir and Olga Cathedral on the evening of May 9, followed by a funeral mass the next day.

The retired metropolitan's death marks a significant loss for not only the Winnipeg archeparchy, but the entire Catholic Church.

Born in Nove Selo in western Ukraine on October 30, 1911, the future Metropolitan Hermaniuk attended the Redemptorist Seminary in Louvain, Belgium, where he studied theology. He was ordained to the priesthood by fellow Redemptorist Bishop Nicholas Char-netsky on September 4, 1938.

Following his ordination, he returned to Belgium and obtained his bachelor's, licentiate and doctoral degrees in sacred theology from the University of Louvain.

Fluent in several languages, including French - and able to read ancient Babylonian - he received his licentiate in Oriental languages and history from the university's Oriental Institute in 1943.

Two years later he started to work with people displaced after the conclusion of the second world war. During that time, the Rev. Hermaniuk received the highest post-doctoral award in theology - the maitre agrégé - in 1947 from the University of Louvain after successfully defending his thesis on the metaphorical significance of the parables of the Gospels.

He emigrated to Canada in 1948, when he was appointed vice-provincial superior of the Ukrainian-rite Redemptorist Fathers of Canada and the United States.

Based in Ontario, the Rev. Hermaniuk also taught moral theology and sacred scripture at the Redemptorist seminary in Waterford. On January 13, 1951, Pope Pius XII named him auxiliary bishop of the then Exarchate of Winnipeg and titular bishop of Sinna.

Four years later, the future metropolitan was named coadjutor to his predecessor, Basilian Archbishop Basil Ladyka. He was appointed Winnipeg's first Ukrainian Catholic archbishop and Canada's first Ukrainian Catholic metropolitan on November 3, 1956, and enthroned at Ss. Vladimir and Olga Cathedral on February 12, 1957.

Metropolitan Hermaniuk remained in that post until his resignation was accepted by the Holy See on December 29, 1992. However, he continued to live with his successor and fellow Redemptorist, Archbishop-Metropolitan Michael Bzdel, until his death.

One of only two Canadian bishops named by Pius XII - the other, Toronto's Isidore Borecky, was consecrated in 1948 - Archbishop Hermaniuk's career spanned and affected several generations.

In the Ukrainian community, his influence stretched from the World Congress of Free Ukrainians (he was a member of its Presidium) to working with student groups in post-war Belgium. He was also a full member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society.

In the Catholic Church, his influence was legendary. Although the cardinal's hat never reached him, Metropolitan Hermaniuk held clout at the Vatican.

Thirty-one years ago, he stood before 2,500 of his fellow bishops attending Vatican II in St. Peter's Basilica and convinced them to reverse the historic excommunication of the patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, which was imposed by Rome during the Great Schism of 1054.

But it was in democratizing the Vatican where Metropolitan Hermaniuk's star shone brightest during that historic Vatican meeting. He remembered the exact day he broached the subject in a 1987 interview with The Weekly.

"On November 6, 1963, I addressed Vatican II on the issue of collegiality. On the one hand, we agreed that when the pope speaks on fundamental doctrine he speaks with infallibility, but the whole Church must also speak as one. Thus, I proposed the notion of collegiality, where there is representation among bishops, so as a group the Church still speaks as one."

Twenty years later, Metropolitan Her-maniuk convinced his brother bishops to adopt a universal Charter of Family Rights.

"He was a fatherly, caring, understanding man," recalled Saskatoon Bishop Cornelius Pasichny, who served under Archbishop Hermaniuk's leadership as a pastor in Winnipeg prior to the metropolitan's resignation.

Nine years ago, when asked how he would like to be remembered, Archbishop Hermaniuk said, "I always tried to do what my conscience told me was useful to do for the people. If I succeeded, it was the good Lord who helped me. If I failed, I would say to the good Lord, 'It was meant to be.' I tried my best to serve Canada and the Ukrainian Catholic Church. It is up to history to make the final judgement."

On the night before his death, Metropolitan Hermaniuk had attended a youth prayer rally in Winnipeg. Though slower in gait as a result of suffering a broken hip last year, he managed many smiles for the young people in attendance.

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