OVERVIEW: Australia's Ukrainian Catholic Church

The history of the Ukrainian Catholic Church began when Ukrainians began migrating to Australia in 1948. They came from a background of persecution to a nation free of the darkness they had experienced, but also to a nation without the foundation of Ukrainian community to nurture them.

These migrants were from all age groups and a variety of different backgrounds, although the majority were quite young - between 18 and 25 years of age. Many did not intend to remain in Australia but wanted to rebuild their shattered lives and return to Europe. Nevertheless, these men and women gathered together as Ukrainians and a unique Ukrainian community began to develop.

The Ukrainian Catholic Church, the faith most of these immigrants brought with them, did not exist in Australia. During the early 1950s there was only a loose association of young Ukrainian clerics and older clerics from Canada, operating under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church, to serve the spiritual needs of this infant community.

The first official Ukrainian Catholic liturgy in Australia is considered to have been celebrated by the Rev. Paul Smal on August 13, 1949, in a chapel next to St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral in Melbourne. It is known, however, that the Rev. Smal also celebrated divine liturgies in the migrant camps in Bonegilla prior to his coming to Melbourne. In South Australia, the Rev. Dmytro Kachmar celebrated the first liturgy in that state on September 25, 1949.

It was not until 1958, when the Rev. Ivan Prasko was consecrated bishop, and an exarchate, to which he was appointed, was established in Sydney, that the Ukrainian Catholic Church became an entity in its own right in Australia. Very soon after that establishment, Bishop Prasko petitioned the Vatican to move the seat of the exarchy to Melbourne, where it has been since that time. The exarchate provided a legal framework for the Church which, in turn, provided structure for the community.

In October 1958, the Church held its first conference of clergy that was attended by Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk, leader of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada, and Archbishop Buchko, leader of the Church-in-exile in Rome. These senior clerics brought with them much-needed experience and were able to provide some initial direction to the newly established Church and its community.

It was at this time that many migrant Ukrainians began to realize that they would not be returning to Europe and that Australia was now their home and with that realization came the determination to build their future in this country.

The middle years

The period from the late 1950s to the late 1970s was one of energetic building for the Ukrainian community. A critical element in the success of this building process was that the Ukrainian Catholic Church, under the inspirational leadership of Bishop Prasko, was able to provide a focus and to hold the community together in a sense of common purpose. The Church was the genesis of the Ukrainian community and identity in Australia.

Bishop Prasko was a remarkable man who united Ukrainian Catholics in Australia and New Zealand. It was his organizational skill and leadership that brought together a people who were scattered across the nation. During the early days of the eparchy, he, together with his clergy and the Ukrainian community, established parishes, church councils, convents, youth groups and choirs, and many other community and welfare agencies. In 1960 the bishop established the first Church magazine, which later became the newspaper "Church and Life." It was his vision that built the Church that exists today.

The Church rapidly expanded the number of its parishes in Australia; there are now Ukrainian Catholic parishes in most capital cities and other provincial cities in this country. Each church has a cantor and most parishes have established formal choirs, including the now famous Cathedral Youth Choir of the Melbourne parish.

During the early 1960s three young Ukrainian men left Australia to study to be priests at the Ukrainian Catholic seminary in Rome. They were ordained in 1967 and returned to Australia as the first priests ordained specifically for the Church in this country. This was a milestone in the journey of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Australia.

In the same year, the first group of Basilian Sisters arrived from Argentina to support the work of the Church.

A very significant influence on the Church in Australia resulted from the visits of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj in 1965, when he was major archbishop, and again in 1973 after he had been named cardinal. He helped shape the Church in Australia by encouraging Ukrainians here to honor their past by maintaining their religion, their cultural identity and their language.

The later years and the present

With Bishop Prasko at its head, the exarchate, which was a temporary institution, became an eparchy in 1982. The establishment of the eparchy meant that the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Australia was had become a permanent entity, taking its place as a separate but participating part of the Catholic Church in Australia.

In 1988 the Millennium of Christianity in Ukraine was celebrated throughout the world. Worldwide celebrations took place in Rome, and a large delegation of Australian parishioners participated in the international celebrations there. The Church in Australia organized events throughout the country and 500 people took part in the national celebration in Canberra.

The visit in 1985 by the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Cardinal Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky, to his Church in Australia, was another important event. The visit was particularly significant because it provided the Australian Church with a connection to the Ukrainian Church throughout the world.

Also a significant influence was the l991 visit by Bishop Pavlo Wasylyk from Ukraine. Bishop Wasylyk was the first bishop from the former Church-in-the-underground to visit Australia and, as such, he represented the emergence of the Ukrainian Catholic Church from a long period of oppression in the Soviet Union.

These connections helped the Church and the Ukrainian community in Australia refresh their bonds with the universal Ukrainian Catholic Church, in the same way as the visits by Patriarch Josyf over a decade earlier had inspired Ukrainian Catholics to take pride in and honor their cultural and religious heritage.

In 1993 the Rev. Stasiuk was appointed bishop of Australia following the resignation of Bishop Prasko. He had been the rector of St. Vladimir's Minor Seminary in Roblin, Manitoba prior to his appointment. Bishop Stasiuk build the Ukrainian Church in Australia and is particularly keen to have the Church and its teachings more widely known in this country.

Bishop Stasiuk is a member of the Australian Council of Churches and is very active in the Australian Bishops' Conference, where he is secretary of the Migrant and Refugee Committee and a member of the Ecumenical Committee.

Since his appointment, Bishop Stasiuk has introduced the Youth for Christ Movement, the "God With Us" catechetical series and established a center to serve the needs of catechists of the eparchy. He has also welcomed nuns from the Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate to Australia to undertake educational and parish duties and to join with the Basilian Sisters in supporting the work of the Church.

In 1994 the Church in Australia began a major consultation process with its laity to discover their vision, concerns and hopes for the Ukrainian Catholic Church. During this process, the Eparchial Sobor, several parishioners were prepared represent Australia in two Patriarchal Sobors held in Ukraine. The level of participation and preparedness of the Australian delegation has been internationally recognized.

Concern about events in Europe led the Ukrainian Catholic Church and the Ukrainian community to establish a special committee in 1995. That committee's goal was to find ways to assist Ukrainian refugees to come to Australia and to raise awareness of the plight of Ukrainians in Bosnia and the former Yugoslavia. At that time few Australians had a proper understanding of what was happening in Bosnia. The committee alerted Australia to the terrible phenomenon of "ethnic cleansing" by using media outlets and press conferences, by urging that the matter be raised in the Federal Senate, and by involving the Bishops' Conference.

The government changed the immigration clause related to Yugoslavia, and this enabled a number of people to come to this country as refugees. The committee is still operating and is in continuous contact with Ukrainians in Bosnia.

As part of his intention to make the Ukrainian Catholic Church more widely known, Bishop Stasiuk took a delegation of Australian Catholic churchmen, including Cardinal Clancy and five bishops, to Ukraine in 1995. There the Australian clerics experienced and came to appreciate the unique nature of the Church in Ukraine. The enthusiasm that emanated from this visit has helped the Ukrainian Catholic Church become better known in Australia. And has resulted in increased cooperation between the Churches.

Due to the increased knowledge of, and empathy for, the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Australia, Catholic bishops passed a motion during the May 1998 Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference declaring their very positive support to Eastern Churches in Australia.

The future

The Church sees education, in its widest sense, as critical to shaping its future. The Ukrainian Catholic Church was not created to function in a pluralist society; it is a 1,000-old community entity to which its people have always gravitated. Therefore it has not developed a high degree of proselytizing skill. The future of the Church in Australia depends on how well it is able to adapt to living in a culture foreign to the one in which it was born.

The Ukrainian Catholic Church wants to encourage young people to develop a strong commitment to their spiritual life and to become more involved in the life of the Church. To achieve this, the Church is working to develop its communications techniques so that it can deliver its message skillfully and convincingly. The Church wants to demonstrate to the community at large how the Byzantine-Ukrainian heritage is relevant to the Australian way of life. The very presence of the Ukrainian Church in Australia has already benefited the wider Catholic Church in this country by its example of the diversity of theological and liturgical expression within the Catholic Church.

To move confidently into the future it is important that there be an understanding of and respect for the past. The Church's very extensive library is a valuable source of research material which will help make the history of the Church and Ukraine more accessible to parishioners and students. A very impressive museum is also part of the eparchial structure. As yet a relatively unknown resource, the museum will provide further contact with the past and will be a source of inspiration for future generations.

The Church itself is using the milestone of 50 years' experience to conduct a review as part of its planning for the future. The Church's legal structures are being completely re-examined and restructured to ensure that there is a firm foundation for the next 50 years.

The Ukrainian Catholic Council of Australia - the national body for the voice of the faithful - has also been undergoing changes. The consultative role of the council is being examined and expanded to ensure that, through its structure, laypeople will have a chance to shape the future development of the Church.

Through these and other initiatives, the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Australia hopes to develop from a migrant Church to one that forms its own membership and contributes to the overall Australian way of life. Its purpose is to become an integral part of Australian life by encouraging the wider community to appreciate the beauty of its liturgy, its history and traditions, and the spiritual nourishment it is able to provide.

In the materialistic, pluralistic, secular soil of Australia, the Ukrainian Catholic Church is a plant that must be carefully nurtured if it is to fruit and attract people to it. With God's help, and the support, commitment and hard work of the clergy and laity, this purpose will be realized.

The article above was submitted by the Bishop's Chancery of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in North Melbourne, Australia.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 8, 1999, No. 32, Vol. LXVII

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