NOTES ON PEOPLE (06/30/02)

NOTES ON PEOPLE

First holy communion in Austria for U.S. girl

INNSBRUCK, Austria - On Sunday, May 5, the Ukrainian community of Innsbruck, Austria, celebrated Easter by the Julian calendar, as well as the first communion of two girls, one Austrian and one American.

The American was Alexandra Bobiak Nagurney, daughter of Dr. Ladimer Nagurney and Dr. Anna Bobiak Nagurney of Amherst, Mass. The family is spending four months in Innsbruck while Prof. Anna Bobiak Nagurney, the John F. Smith Memorial Professor at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, is the Distinguished Fulbright Chaired Professor at the Institute of Economic Theory, Economic Policy and Economic History at the University of Innsbruck. Concurrently, Prof. Ladimer Nagurney of the University of Hartford is a visiting professor at the Institute of Computer Science at the University of Innsbruck.

The Austrian girl was Anya Pidruchni, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Pidruchni of Innsbruck.

The liturgy for the first communion and Easter was celebrated in the Chapel of Ss. Volodymyr and Olha, the Ukrainian rite chapel at the Canisianum, which serves as the Jesuit residence for seminarians and priests at the University of Innsbruck. Since the end of the 19th century Ukrainian Catholic clergy have attended the seminary at the University of Innsbruck. Currently there are eight theological students from western Ukraine in Innsbruck. Many Ukrainian prelates studied in Innsbruck, including the late patriarchs Cardinal Josyf Slipyj and Cardinal Myroslav Lubachivsky, Metropolitan Constantine Bohachevsky, Abbot Clement Sheptytsky and Bishop John Stock.

The liturgy was celebrated by the Rev. Nicolaj Hornykewicz, pastor to Ukrainian Catholics in western Austria and pastor of St. Mark's Church in Salzburg. Joining him at the altar were the Rev. Ihor Kolesnik, the Rev. Dr. Vladimir Richter and the Rev. Volodymyr Hrutsa. The Rev. Deacon Volodymyr Voloshyn served as deacon. The congregation, led by the Ukrainian seminarians, sung the responses.

The Ukrainian community in western Austria extends from Salzburg west to the border with Switzerland. In addition to the centers of Salzburg and Innsbruck, liturgy is also celebrated in Kutstein. At the end of the second world war there were about 10,000 Ukrainians living in this area. Currently, due to emmigration and assimilation, the community numbers about 350, but it is being bolstered by recent immigration.

Alexandra Nagurney's grandmother, the late Iwanna Jarosz Bobiak, her great-uncle, E. Stanley Jarosz, and members of the Bobiak family lived in Austria at the end of the second world war until their immigration to North America.

To celebrate with the families and friends of the two girls receiving first communion, Ukrainians came from western Austria and as far away as Munich, Germany. At the conclusion of the liturgy a "Sviachene" (Easter repast) was served for all.

The Nagurneys are members of UNA Branch 406.

Notes on people is a feature geared toward reporting on the achievements of members of the Ukrainian National Association. All submissions should be concise due to space limitations and must include the person's UNA branch number. Items will be published as soon as possible after their receipt, when space permits.

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