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The Archeparchy of Winnipeg: The Archeparchy of Winnipeg is the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Manitoba. The Archeparchy contains some 130 parishes (of varying degrees of activity), some 30 eparchial priests, 11 priests serving from monastic communities or religious orders, 12 deacons, 23 nuns, and some 4,000 member Catholics. There is also one Catholic school and two Nursing Homes run by the Sisters Servants The head of the Archeparchy of Winnipeg, with authority over the entire Church in Manitoba (and all corresponding points north), is its Metropolitan Archbishop. The present ruling bishop of the Archeparchy is the Most Reverend Lawrence Huculak, O.S.B.M. (cf. administration).
An "Eparchy": the particular Church An "eparchy" is the basic ecclesial institution of the Church. It is the church. Organizationally, it is the basic unit of the Church structure both legally and canonically. Each eparchy is made up of a Bishop or an "Eparch" and the Christian Faithful under his care, leadership, and authority. Eparchies are generally named after the city in which the bishop has his main church (a.k.a. the "Cathedral"). An eparchy is at the very local level divided into parish churches. The parish church is a subset of the basic church unit - the eparchy. The bishop of the eparchy appoints local pastors or parish priests to assist him in caring for his Faithful who are gathered into these parish churches.
The Archeparchy: a particular Church in Canada A group of eparchies form a grouping of the churches called a "Metropolia". The five Ukrainian Catholic eparchies (i.e. particular churches) in Canada form the Metropolia of Canada. Nevertheless, each eparchy remains a basic autonomous particular church. The first bishop of a Metropolia is called the "Metropolitan Archbishop" (or "Metropolitan" for short). His eparchy is called an "Archeparchy" because it is the eparchy of the first bishop - i.e. "Archbishop" (from the Greek, meaning "first bishop"). The Metropolitan Archbishop coordinates the common actions of the eparchies in the ecclesial province or Metropolia. As all bishops are equal, the Metropolitan is not "in charge of" the other bishops in his Metropolia, nor does he interfere in the internal governance of his fellow bishops in their own eparchies. In Canada, the "Archeparchy" is the eparchy of Winnipeg, encompassing Manitoba and all points north.
The Archeparchy and its Metropolia The Metropolia of Canada are made up of the following eparchies:
The Archeparchy and the global Church
The Archeparchy of Winnipeg together with all the
other Ukrainian Catholic eparchies in the world come together to
form the Thus our global church is an assembly/communion of local particular churches. These local particular churches are the "eparchies". Our global church has eparchies in North America, South America, Europe, Australia, Oceania, as well as parish churches in Asia. The first bishop of all the eparchies of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is called the Patriarch. His main church and head office is in Kyiv, Ukraine. The present patriarch of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is his Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk. Each year, all the bishops of all the eparchies gather in the Holy Synod together with the Patriarch to deal with matters common to all eparchies and to make decisions affecting the global Church.
The universal Catholic Communion Just as the Archeparchy is a member of the world-wide Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, so also, in its turn, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is one of the 22 churches that make up the universal Catholic Communion. And we are fully in communion with the Pope of Rome. Other Churches that are members the Catholic Communion are the Roman Catholic Church, the Coptic Catholic Church, the Maronite Catholic Church, the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Malabar Catholic Church, the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, etc. The head of the Roman Catholic Church is the Pope of Rome. He is the bishop of the eparchy of Rome, Italy. Because he is bishop of Rome, ex officio he also serves as the first bishop of the entire universal Catholic Communion, and ex officio is the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
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Copyright © 1996-2008 Archeparchy of Winnipeg |
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world-wide Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
