"The No. 1 priority for . . . the church is evangelization, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in today's world."
His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk
(Rome, 31 March 2011)
6:30 PM Moleben
Holy Eucharist Cathedral
501-4th Avenue, New Westminster, BC
advance tickets for reception $25.00
($30.00 after August 1st)
tel: 604-526-1261
SATURDAY 1 SEPTEMBER
10:00 AM Hierarchial Divine Liturgy
Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish
550 West 14th Avenue, Vancouver, BC
advance tickets for reception $60.00
($30.00 tax receipt issued)
tel: 604-879-5830
SUNDAY 2 SEPTEMBER
11:00 AM Hierarchial Divine Liturgy
Dormition of the Mother of God parish
1091 Coronation Avenue, Kelowna, BC
advance tickets for reception $50.00
tel: 250-860-7295
New Westminster Eparchy will have opportunity to meet and pray with young leader
By Nathan RumohrThe B.C. Catholic
Camp St. Volodymyr
Kelowna, August 20-27, 2012 - ages 7-15
Celebrating Ukrainian Catholic heritage; past, present and future
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND APPLICATION FORMS PLEASE VISIT
CAMP ST. VOLODYMYR WEBSITE
Photos from GOF - Surrey, April 29
Bishop Ken's Letter - Announcing the Bishop Jerome Eparchial Centre
To the Faithful of the Eparchy of New Westminster
January 19, 2012
Glory to Jesus Christ!
Dearly Beloved in Christ!
I have, over the past few years, had an opportunity to speak with many of you with the intent of soliciting your feedback on how best to utilize the Episcopal Residence in New Westminster.
To that end, I am very pleased to announce that the Episcopal Residence will be renamed the Bishop Jerome Chimy Eparchial Centre, and renovated to fully meet it’s newly expanded role in the life of the Eparchy.
The Bishop Jerome Centre was originally built by our Beloved Bishop in 1976 and became the official residence of the Eparch. During the time of Bishop Jerome, the Episcopal Residence housed not only the Bishop, but up to 3 Sisters Servants, 2 priests and any out of town guests on official visits to the Eparchy. The Episcopal Residence during the time of Bishop Severian housed the Bishop, one or two priests, a hospodar and also allowed Bishop Severian to provide a welcome place for visitors to the Eparchy. As the Eparchy has grown and evolved, other arrangements have been provided for housing the sisters and priests of the Eparchy in the lower mainland and now the Episcopal Residence is no longer needed as simple housing. The interior of the building is showing its age after 36 years of chancery and residential use with minimal renovations.
Acting on your suggestions, and with the support of the Eparchial College of Consultors and Finance Council, various Parish Council Chairs, the Eparchial UCWLC and other interested parties, we have secured rezoning from the City of New Westminster to allow us to legally operate our administrative offices in this location. We have also undertaken to reallocate over 4,300 square feet of space in the new Bishop Jerome Centre from living quarters to become an Eparchial Library, Archives, Chancery, Administrative and Pastoral Centre, Religious Education office and meeting places. The remaining area will be separately accessed and will serve as the official residence of the Bishop and any visitors to the Eparchy.
To ensure the Bishop Jerome Centre is safe for all occupants, we are following the advice and instructions of our structural architect and thus are upgrading the structure to meet all modern code requirements. Other changes to make the Centre more welcoming for all of our faithful and guests include upgrades to provide handicapped accessibility.
In March of 1976, just a few short months after the December 28th, 1975 ground-breaking ceremony was celebrated and the construction of the Episcopal Residence began, Bishop Jerome wrote the following to the faithful of the Eparchy of New Westminster:
“As it now stands, construction of the Bishop’s Residence is well under way. Completion is expected sometime in May and the official opening and blessing is anticipated for June 13, 1976.
“The Diocesan Expansion Fund campaign has been launched for the construction of the Bishop’s Residence. However, we should look beyond the physical structure of the residence. We should look at it as a symbol – a symbol of unity of our Eparchy, a symbol of our achievements in this province, a symbol of our awareness of our identity. No one can doubt the importance of this purpose.
“Your generous contribution towards the Diocesan Expansion Fund is a great investment, it is a contribution to our Church and to our national heritage. Therefore let’s all join hands, young and old, rich and poor, strong and weak, to achieve this goal.”
I would like to echo the words of our Founding Bishop of blessed memory and also announce that the renovations to the interior of the building have begun and are expected to continue until the early summer of 2012. The total cost of the renovation is estimated at around $250,000. We have already raised funds of over $150,000 including a grant of $50,000 from Catholic Missions in Canada who were very excited when they saw the plans for this Centre. We are seeking benefactors to help support this enhancement to the future life of the Eparchy and would ask you to consider a contribution to the Bishop Jerome Chimy Eparchial Centre in your annual gifting or perhaps in your will.
Bishop Jerome demonstrated the foresight and courage to construct the Episcopal Residence during the infancy of our Eparchy. All who have seen the vision for this space believe that the Bishop Jerome Chimy Eparchial Centre is a fitting tribute and legacy to our Founding Bishop. The Centre will continue to be a vibrant hub of Eparchial life that reflects the energy of this Spiritual Father and the love he had for all the faithful of the Eparchy. This rededicated facility will continue his work of Evangelization and will be focal point from which we can follow Jesus’ command to spread the Gospel and share the Good News of Christ’s love and mercy with the people of British Columbia and Yukon.
With prayerful best wishes and assurance of my Episcopal Blessings,
I remain sincerely yours in Christ,
+Ken
Eparch of New Westminster
PASTORAL LETTER
OF THE UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF CANADA
Announcing
The Year 2012 -
A YEAR ACCEPTABLE TO THE LORD!
To the Very Reverend Clergy, Monastics
and Religious Sisters, Seminarians and Laity of the Ukrainian Catholic
Church in Canada:
Dearly Beloved in Christ!
Following his baptism in the River Jordan and his subsequent time of prayer and fasting in the desert, Jesus began his 3 years of public ministry. He entered the synagogue in Nazareth and read the following words from the Prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” [Lk 4:18-19]
As we, the members of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada, begin the New Year 2012 with the commemoration of Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River and the start of his public ministry, we too are called upon to begin a year acceptable to the Lord. This year will mark several important events in the life of our Church, which we wish to officially announce with this letter.
The Centenary of Blessed Bishop Nykyta Budka
In 1912 the first bishop appointed to lead the Ukrainian Catholic faithful in Canada arrived in Winnipeg to begin his public ministry. The newly ordained Bishop Nykyta Budka began the pastoral work of coordinating the clergy, religious sisters and brothers, together with the laity of the Ukrainian Catholic Church scattered across the vast country of Canada into a united Church, initially as a single Canada-wide Exarchate. This later grew into a Metropolitan Province with an Archeparchy and four Eparchies.
The task awaiting young 35 year-old Bishop Budka was immense. Not only did he strive to unify Ukrainian Catholics into an organized Church, but he needed to obtain civil recognition of our Church by the government of Canada, to establish and develop good relations with the dominant Roman Catholic Church and other denominations, and help the Ukrainian immigrants who had been settling here since 1891 to face the challenges of a new culture and a new way of life. Indeed, Bishop Budka had to carry out his ministry according to the scripture text mentioned above: bringing joy to the poor, visiting the imprisoned, helping the sick, and assisting all those oppressed with the difficult conditions of pioneer life.
Bishop Budka carried out his mission in Canada from 1912 until his final return to Europe in 1928. He suffered much during this period and his health deteriorated. In Ukraine he returned to pastoral ministry. With the rise of communism, Bishop Budka, although still a Canadian citizen was arrested together with the other bishops in Ukraine and sentenced to a concentration camp in Kazakstan, where he died in 1949. In 2001, during the historic pastoral visit of Pope John Paul II to Ukraine, Bishop Budka was beatified, together with other martyrs of the faith and now holds the title of BLESSED Bishop Nykyta Budka.
Ukrainian Catholic Synod of Bishops scheduled for Winnipeg 2012
To mark this important centenary of Blessed Bishop Nykyta Budka for our Church the Ukrainian Catholic Bishops of Canada invited the Ukrainian Catholic Synod of Bishops to hold its annual meeting in Canada in 2012. This invitation has been accepted and we are happy to announce that this gathering of Ukrainian Catholic Bishops from around the world will be held in Winnipeg from 9-16 September 2012. Of the current 51 bishops (including those in retirement) it is expected that around 35-40 bishops will take part. Although the Synod itself, according to canon law, is open only to bishops, various public functions are being planned, including the opening Divine Liturgy in Winnipeg’s Sts. Vladimir & Olga Cathedral on September 9th. Also planned are a public banquet on September 16th, and visits by bishops to various churches in Manitoba on Sunday, September 16th.
A committee has been organized to make logistical plans for this Synod and its activities in Manitoba. All plans are ultimately subject to approval by the Secretariat of the UGCC Synod of Bishops from Ukraine.
Visit of newly elected Patriarch Sviatoslav
In March of 2011, following the resignation of His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the UGCC Synod of Bishops elected Bishop Sviatoslav Shewchuk, 40 years of age, as the new Father and Head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Following the confirmation of his election by Pope Benedict XVI, His Beatitude Sviatoslav was installed in Kyiv on 27 March 2011. His Beatitude will be in Canada not only to take part in the Winnipeg UGCC Synod, but will also make pastoral visitations to the other eparchies in Canada during September 2012. Each Eparchy is responsible for planning the details of the Patriarch’s visit in its particular area. With the pastoral visit of Patriarch Sviatoslav, the ties of our Church in Canada with the Church in Ukraine will be strengthened, and the memory of Blessed Bishop Nykyta Budka will be honoured.
Dearly Beloved in Christ!
Indeed the year 2012 will be for Ukrainian Catholics in Canada “a year acceptable to the Lord!” It will be a time not only to remember the past, but to celebrate it as well. It will be a time to receive guests and offer hospitality in the name of the Lord. And it will be a time to review and renew our pastoral mission in the world we live. Let us continue our pilgrim journey with Christ our Saviour, into this special year, through the prayers of Blessed Nykyta Budka, our first bishop and martyr.
6/19 January 2012, Feast of the Theophany of our Lord
Prot H/1/2012
+ Lawrence Huculak OSBM, Metropolitan Archbishop of Winnipeg
+ David Motiuk, Eparchial Bishop of Edmonton
+ Stephen Chmilar, Eparchial Bishop of Toronto
+ Ken Nowakowski, Eparchial Bishop of New Westminster
+ Bryan Bayda CSsR, Eparchial Bishop of Saskatoon