RUSITU, FILIPPO, *Gesù between angels and saints. Mosaic from the ancient feast of S. Maria Maggiore, with the author's signature* — Rome.
1483
I. Incorporation of the Ruthenians into the Polish-Lithuanian State
In the 10th–12th centuries these regions were largely under the rule of the various Rurikid princes grouped around the Grand Prince of Kiev (see RUSSIA, I, History). After the conversion of the Grand Prince of Kiev, St VLADIMIR (980–1015), Byzantine-Slavic Christianity spread rapidly through all the Ruthenian principalities, and the bishops established there belonged to the metropolis of Kiev and all Russia (see KIEV), which was under the jurisdiction of the patriarchate of Constantinople. Consequently, after the Byzantine schism the Ruthenians likewise found themselves separated from communion with Rome. During the 13th century internal wars and Tatar invasions so dismembered the federation of Rurikid princes that in the 14th century the Ruthenian principalities — including the city of Kiev — were progressively conquered by Lithuania and Poland. The political union between Poland and Lithuania, begun in 1386 with the marriage of Grand Prince JAGIELLO to Queen JADWIGA and later strengthened by the agreements of Horodlo (1413) and Lublin (1569), reunited the Ruthenians within the Polish-Lithuanian State, where they represented an important factor in political life.These political developments and the transfer of the see of the metropolis of Kiev to Moscow also compromised the unity of the metropolis itself. The patriarchs of Constantinople, following the fluctuations of political conditions, at times divided the metropolis by appointing separate metropolitans for Galicia and for Lithuania, at times reunited it under the single metropolitan residing in Moscow. Finally, the metropolis of Kiev and all Russia was found to be reunited under Metropolitan ISIDORE (see ISIDORE), appointed by the patriarch of Constantinople in 1436. Isidore took part in the Council of Florence (see FLORENCE), where, together with the Greeks, he adhered to the union and then promulgated its decrees in Russia (in 1441). Charged with this mission by Grand Prince BASIL, he was able to escape, but could not remain even in Poland, since at that time the antipope FELIX V was recognized there. Isidore therefore retired to Rome, where in 1458 he resigned the see of Kiev. His successor GREGORY (1458–72) was recognized by King CASIMIR (1445–92), but his effective jurisdiction was limited to the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian State. Gregory’s successors remained in communion with Rome until Metropolitan JOSEPH SOLTAN (1507–21), but then they returned to seeking canonical investiture from the patriarchs of Constantinople.
II. Union of Brest-Litovsk
Meanwhile, within the common Polish-Lithuanian State the predominance of the Polish-Catholic element grew ever greater, economically, socially, and culturally superior to the Ruthenians.The Ruthenian nobility, which had frequent contacts in the frequent diets and in the army with the Polish nobility, inevitably came under the influence of Polish-Latin culture. Mixed marriages and Catholic schools attended even by dissenting Ruthenian youth often led to conversion to Catholicism and acceptance of the Latin rite. After 1550 Protestant propaganda increased in Poland, where it gained many Catholic noble families and even more Ruthenian ones. Indeed, the dissenting Church, weaker religiously, culturally, and socially than the Catholic Church, was not able to resist effectively on its own, and from abroad it could not be given effective help, since the Church of Constantinople as well as that of Moscow were then in politically hostile states to the Polish-Lithuanian State. Nevertheless, the dissenting confraternities, led by those of Lviv and Vilnius, with their schools and publications, offered some resistance to the expansion of Protestantism in the cities. A similar activity was also carried out by Prince CONSTANTINE OSTROGOSKI (see OSTROGOSKI), assisted in this by Prince ANDREW KURBSKI and by the monk ARTEMIUS, Russian refugees. In the printing house attached to the Ostroh school — then the only school of the dissenters that reached the level of the Catholic schools — the first Bible printed in Church Slavonic appeared in 1581.
Meanwhile, some Ruthenian bishops, on the one hand considering the disastrous state of their own Church and on the other seeing the success of the Catholic Church in its struggle against Protestantism, conceived the idea of union with Rome. They hoped that by incorporating their metropolis into the organism of the universal Church they would improve its religious, cultural, and social conditions and thus save it from imminent ruin. The project of union was secretly discussed in some meetings of bishops and dealt with by the Regency Council (1587–1632), which was favorable to the union also for political reasons. However, Prince Ostrogoski was left out of this, and this later created no small difficulties.
Finally, the bishops CYRIL TERLETSKI of Lutsk and HIPACIUS POTIJ of Vladimir went to Rome, where on 23 December 1595 they made an act of obedience to Pope CLEMENT VIII on behalf of the entire Ruthenian people. On 23 February 1596 the Pope confirmed with a bull all the ancient rights of the metropolis of Kiev. The rite and Eastern canonical institutions were to remain intact; the bishops were to receive canonical investiture from the metropolitan, who, elected by the bishops, was to be confirmed by the pope. The Synod of Ruthenian bishops, held at Brest-Litovsk from 6 to 10 October 1596, solemnly proclaimed the union of the metropolis of Kiev with Rome. King SIGISMUND officially recognized the union and regarded the united hierarchy as the sole legitimate hierarchy of the Ruthenians. However, the Ruthenian bishops of Lviv and Przemyśl did not then adhere to the union, supported as they were by part of the monks and Ruthenian nobility with Prince Ostrogoski at their head and by numerous confraternities, especially those of Lviv and Vilnius. Therefore Metropolitan MICHAEL RABOZHA (1588–99), faithful to the union but weak, had to struggle against this opposition to implement the decisions of the Synod of Brest. His successor HIPACIUS POTIJ (1600–1613), of high nobility, a practical and energetic administrator, was better able to uphold the rights against the dissenters, who through legal proceedings and underhanded armed attacks tried to prevent the united hierarchy from exercising ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Potij obtained from the king confirmation of all the rights and privileges already granted to the united Ruthenians on the occasion of the union concluded at Florence.
III. Consolidation of the Union
After Potij came his auxiliary bishop JOSEPH VELJAMIN RUTSKI (see RUTSKI). Potij had consolidated the union in the juridical and administrative sphere, but it was still necessary to make the adherence of the clergy and people to the union more conscious and profound.Therefore Rutskii wished to raise the religious and cultural level of the Ruthenian clergy and laity, which was inferior to that of the Polish Latin Catholics. To this end Rutskii needed schools like those of the Latins. He obtained from Paul V legal parity for his schools with those of the Latins, but for lack of financial means he was unable to establish them. Even the famous dissenting school of Ostroh passed in 1620 to the Jesuits. Nor was he able to open the Seminary of Minsk, because the building and goods intended for this purpose were returned by King WŁADYSŁAW IV to the dissenters.
Rutskij achieved greater success in his reform of the Basilians (v.), who until then had been dependent on the bishops and led a monastic life. Rutskij devised the transformation of the Basilians into a large Order directed by a superior general distinct from and independent of the metropolitan. The priests were to constitute the principal part of the Order and were also to devote themselves to the care of souls. The bishops, however, were all to be Basilians, as before. A general chapter of the Basilian monasteries accepted these proposals in 1621, and thus the reform began, later approved by Rome. The reformed Order then became the focal point of the religious and cultural life of the Ruthenian metropolia.
The Cossacks, concluding in 1658 with the latter the Treaty of Hadiac, which admitted Ukraine as the third member of the Polish-Lithuanian state and recognized only the Latin and dissident hierarchy there, thereby tacitly suppressing the Union. The united bishops protested in vain; they did not surrender but instead negotiated again with the dissidents for the Union. When, by the Treaty of Andrusov (1667), Russia gained the left bank of the Dnieper and the city of Kiev, seat of the dissident metropolitan, King Casimir, in 1668 before abdicating, withdrew the concessions granted to the dissidents and reconfirmed the privileges granted to the united metropolia, which, under the leadership of Metropolitan Gabriel Kolenda (1666–74), consolidated itself and repaired the damage caused by the mortal danger just happily overcome.
V. THE VICTORY OF THE UNION
The prosperous development and growing prestige of the united Church, also supported by King John Sobieski (1676–96), favorably influenced even the three dissident bishops who still remained in Poland after the last territorial concessions made to Russia. In 1691, Bishop Innocent Winnickij of Peremyshl promulgated the Union; in 1700, that of Joseph Sumljanskij of Lviv; and in 1702, Dionysius Zabokrickij of Luck. The clergy and laity, prudently prepared, accepted the Union without difficulty. In 1708, the important Stauropegial confraternity of Lviv, until then a stronghold of schism, also adhered to the Union. Thus, under the united metropolitan, almost all Ruthenians in the Polish-Lithuanian state were reunited, and only insignificant dissident communities remained in the regions bordering Russia.Once external difficulties were overcome, the united Church could devote all its energies to the internal development of its religious and cultural life. Serious difficulties arose from the disputes between the hierarchy and the Basilian Order. The monks, though occupying important positions in ecclesiastical administration and the care of souls, were dependent on the superior of the Order, independent of the metropolitan. Since all bishops were to be Basilian monks, their selection practically depended more on the religious superior than on the metropolitan. An agreement (nexus) concluded in 1686 between the Order and the metropolitan did not substantially alter the situation, practically reserving for the metropolitan only the right to receive appeals from the monks without granting him effective means to enforce his decisions. Having no seminaries of their own, Ruthenians made use of scholarships reserved for them in Latin schools, even abroad (Prague, Olomouc, Rome). The secular clergy, generally married, were reluctant to send their sons so far away, and thus the cultural level remained very low. However, the priests, especially the monks, trained in Latin schools, were strongly influenced by Polish-Latin spirituality and culture, and this soon manifested itself in the religious and cultural life of the Ruthenians, particularly in the liturgy, where many Latin forms and customs were gradually introduced (monstrance, Eucharistic processions, side altars, low Mass, etc.). These arbitrary changes caused great uncertainty in liturgical practice, and to remedy this, Metropolitan Leo Kiška (1714–29) convened a Synod, held in 1720 at Zamość. The Synod introduced the Filioque into the Creed, established norms for a new edition of liturgical books, and approved various usages taken from the Latin rite. The Synod emphasized the need for schools and seminaries and issued decrees concerning ecclesiastical discipline, drawing inspiration from the decrees of the Council of Trent. The Synod of Zamość represents, in the religious field, the reflection of the compromise between traditional Byzantine-Slavic culture and Polish-Lithuanian culture and constitutes a decisive turning point in the cultural and religious life of the Ruthenian metropolia. Metropolitan Athanasius Szeptickij (1728–46) prepared a new edition of liturgical books (1730–32), but even so uniformity in practice was not achieved. At that time, the disputes between the hierarchy and the Basilian Order became particularly bitter. Finally, Pope Clement XIII in 1753 urged the bishops to establish seminaries and to involve the secular clergy in ecclesiastical dignities. From then on, the Basilian monks were to be subject in matters of religious discipline to their own superiors and in the care of souls to the bishops, as were the Latin religious.
VI. DISMEMBERMENT OF THE METROPOLIA
The further development of the united Ruthenian Church was interrupted by the first partition of Poland (1772), which also mutilated the Ruthenian metropolia. The Ruthenians of White Russia, with the archbishop of Polotsk, were annexed to Russia; the dioceses of Peremyshl and Lviv to Austria. The Four-Year Diet (1788–92) attempted to reorganize the rest of the Polish state and even planned to place the united clergy on an equal legal and social footing with the Latin clergy. Meanwhile, among the Basilians, numerous professors were formed, so that after the suppression of the Jesuits (1773), they took over some of their schools. However, the two subsequent partitions of Poland (1793–95) completely divided the metropolia among Russia, Prussia, and Austria, and each of its parts then followed its own fate.1. Ruthenians in Prussia
In 1795, Prussia also acquired the region of Białystok inhabited by Ruthenians. Pius VI erected for them in 1799 a new diocese with its seat in the monastery of Suprasl. With the Peace of Tilsit (1807), the region passed to Russia and from then on followed the fate of the Ruthenians in Russian domains.2. Ruthenians in Russia
In the first decade after the first partition of Poland, the Ruthenians encountered no special difficulties. But in 1779, Catherine II (1762–96) deprived the Russian citizenship of the archbishop of Polotsk, Jason Junoša-Smogoževskij, when he was elected metropolitan. In 1785, Heraclius Lisovskij succeeded him in the diocese of Polotsk; he remained faithful to the Union but was too weak to face the growing difficulties. When, in 1793 and 1795, new territories inhabited by united Ruthenians were annexed to Russia, the government increased pressure to induce them to pass to the dissident Church.The metropolitan Teodosius Rostotsky (1787–1805), who had withdrawn to St Petersburg to intervene with the Empress on behalf of the Uniates, remained there until his death. In 1795 Catherine II suppressed the Uniate metropolitanate and all its dioceses except that of the archbishop of Polotsk, to whom she subjected all the Uniate Ruthenians in Russia. The brief reign of Paul I (1796–1801) eased the position of the Uniates. Alexander I (1801–25) in 1801 subjected the Uniates to the “Catholic Ecclesiastical College,” the supreme administrative and judicial organ for Catholics in Russia, headed by the Latin archbishop of Mohilev, Stanislas Siestrzeneewicz-Bohusz (1783–1826), a servile prelate entirely subservient to the government and indifferent to the directives of the Holy See. In 1805 the College was divided into Latin and Uniate sections, the latter presided over by E. Lisovskij. The emperor Alexander also restored the Uniate metropolitanate by erecting in 1809 four bishoprics (Vilna, Polotsk, Luck, Brest). Gregory Kochanovich (1809–14), who succeeded Lisovskij (d. 1809), together with the other Uniate bishops, issued a declaration of loyalty to the Pope and resolved to seek from the Holy See as soon as possible the ratification of the new ecclesiastical province. The metropolitan Joseph Bulhak (1817–38) obtained from Rome delegated metropolitan powers. But Emperor Nicholas I (1825–55), an autocrat rigidly attached to the national dissenting Church, was hostile to the Uniate Church. The young assessor of the Uniate College, Joseph Siemashko, educated in the Latin seminary of Vilna according to the anti-Roman ideas of Josephinism, presented to the Tsar a plan for the subjection of the Uniate Ruthenians to the Russian dissenting Church. Appointed auxiliary bishop to Metropolitan Bulhak, Siemashko, aided by friends A. Zubko and G. Luzhinski, who were also appointed bishops, prepared the ground by replacing many faithful priests with others ready to embrace schism. After the death of Metropolitan Bulhak, who had remained faithful to the Union, Siemashko, Zubko, and Luzhinski, together with twenty-one priests, on 12 February 1839 proclaimed at Polotsk the union with the Russian dissenting Church. Resisting priests were deported. Since the nobility was almost entirely Latin, the mass of Uniate faithful, made up of serf peasants, had no protection and every attempt at resistance was crushed by force. Thus the Uniate Church in Russia was stifled; in 1825 it had numbered six bishops, 1,476 parishes with 1,985 secular priests, 47 monasteries with 507 religious, and 1,427,579 faithful.
After the failure of the Polish insurrection of 1863, a similar fate befell the Uniate diocese of Chelm, which since 1815 had been part of the reconstituted Kingdom of Poland governed by the Russian tsars. Siemashko’s role here was played by the priest Marcellus Popiel, administrator of the diocese, who, aided by some apostate priests from Austrian Galicia, in 1875 at a diocesan synod proclaimed the union with the Russian dissenting Church. The diocese of Chelm then counted about 300 parishes with 250,000 faithful. The resistance of the clergy and faithful was violently repressed. From 1878 to 1905, with the approval of the Holy See, Catholic priests, especially Jesuits, came secretly from Austrian Galicia to provide spiritual assistance to these clandestine Uniates. About 200,000 of them, taking advantage of the Edict of Toleration granted in 1905, publicly declared themselves Catholics again, but of the Latin rite, the only one then recognized in Russia.
3. The Ruthenians in Austria
The Ruthenian dioceses of Lviv, Przemyśl, and Chelm, which came under Austrian rule, continued to acknowledge the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Teodosius Rostotsky, detained in St Petersburg, although they were unable to communicate with him. After Rostotsky’s death (1805), Emperor Francis I obtained from the Holy See in 1807 the erection of the Ruthenian metropolitanate of Halicz, with its see at Lviv, raised to an archbishopric. The metropolitan was to be presented by the Emperor and confirmed by the Pope; the bishops, appointed by the Emperor, received canonical investiture from the metropolitan. The imperial chancellery then coined for these Ruthenians the name “Greek-Catholics.”The first metropolitan was Anthony Angelovich of Przemyśl (d. 1814), then the only surviving Ruthenian bishop in Galicia. In 1806 he took exclusive charge of the central seminary of Lviv, founded by Joseph II, reclaimed ecclesiastical properties that had been usurped and confiscated, and in 1813 established the metropolitan chapter at Lviv. His successor Michael Levitsky (1816–58) in the metropolitanate, diminished by the loss of the diocese of Chelm to Russia, worked to improve the economic and social conditions of the Ruthenian clergy. The Concordat of 1855 guaranteed full equality for the Ruthenian clergy with the Latin, and Levitsky was raised to the purple, becoming the first Ruthenian cardinal after the Union of Brest. The abolition of serfdom (1848) enabled the Ruthenians to form a new educated class in place of the Latinized and Polonized nobility. Ruthenian chairs were also established at the University of Lviv. The tranquil development of ecclesiastical life was disturbed by internal political struggles between the Russophile and Ukrainian parties, which had their adherents among the clergy. The conflicts intensified under Metropolitan Joseph Sembratovich (1870–82), who at first supported the Russophile party but later abandoned it after the defection to schism of some Russophile priests (Ivan Naumovich, Marcellus Popiel, etc.). Suspected by the government and opposed by the radical Ukrainian party of Michael Drahomanov, Sembratovich resigned. He was succeeded by his auxiliary bishop and nephew Sylvester Sembratovich (1885–98). Meanwhile, in 1882, under Jesuit guidance, the reform of the Basilians was begun, transforming them into a modern order of apostolic activity. In 1885 part of the vast archdiocese of Lviv was erected into a diocese with its see at Stanislaus. To restore order and divert the clergy from excessive political activity, the metropolitan convened a synod at Lviv in 1891, which completed the disciplinary and liturgical legislation of that of Zamość, adopting almost all the Tridentine decrees. The question of the celibacy of the secular clergy was debated but not resolved. In 1895 the decrees of the synod were approved by the Holy See, and Metropolitan Sembratovich was created a cardinal. After the brief rule of Metropolitan Julian Kulovsky (1899–1900), Andrew Sheptytsky (1900–44), bishop of Stanislaus, succeeded him. Sprung from the illustrious family of the former Ruthenian nobility, a man of wide culture and intelligent energy, he avoided radical extremism while firmly asserting the rights of his people to full social and cultural development and the use of their own language. Through his initiative or at least with his support, numerous religious, social, and cultural institutions arose. In 1906 he founded the monastic Order of Studies. In 1907 a seminary was opened at Stanislaus and the National Ukrainian Museum at Lviv. Alongside the Order of Basilians, the Eastern branch of the Redemptorists also established itself in Galicia in 1913. The cultural level of the clergy, who also studied abroad (at Vienna, Innsbruck, and in the Ruthenian College opened in Rome in 1897), rose rapidly, and within its ranks there already stood out distinguished professors and writers of European stature. Religious congregations of women also developed, complementing the apostolate of the clergy through their educational and charitable activities. Besides the Basilian nuns, the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M. were founded in 1892, the Myrrh-bearing Sisters in 1910, the Sisters of St Josaphat in 1911, and the Sisters of the Holy Family in 1912. Religious journalism, especially popular, also flourished.
This tranquil development was disrupted by the First World War (1914–18). Galicia was largely occupied by Russian armies. In 1914 the metropolitan, along with numerous ecclesiastics, was deported to Russia, and the occupying authorities supported the dissident movement, though with little success. In 1917 Szeptycki returned from Russia to his see, which still had much to suffer on account of the Polish-Ukrainian civil war. With the end of the war, the metropolitan see of Halych remained within the restored Polish state. Despite many difficulties arising from political tensions between Poles and Ukrainians, the metropolitan—always conciliatory in a Christian spirit and averse to radical extremism—managed to guide his see toward the continued development of religious and cultural life. In 1923 the theological journal *Bohoslovia* began publication, and in 1928 the Theological Academy was opened in Lviv. The number of clergy and religious of both sexes increased. There were about thirty religious-cultural periodicals. The metropolitan see of Halych counted, across its three dioceses, 3,576,237 faithful in 2,226 parishes served by 2,273 secular priests.
With the new partition of Poland between Russia and Germany (1939), the metropolitan see was for a brief time almost entirely under Soviet rule, but in 1941 it was occupied by German troops. The war paralyzed normal religious and cultural life. With the definitive victory of the Soviet Union, the territory of the metropolitan see of Halych—except for Przemyśl and its surroundings, which remained in Poland—was incorporated into the Ukrainian Soviet Republic. At first, Soviet authorities showed a certain tolerance toward the Uniate Church. After the death of Metropolitan Szeptycki (1944), Josyf Slipyj succeeded him. In 1945
**RUTHENIANS** — Newly ordained Ruthenian priests in Rome, with the ordaining prelate His Excellency Bishop Isaia Papadopulos.
Open persecution of the Uniates began. All the bishops and leading priests were deported, and severe pressure was exerted on the rest to induce them to join the dissident Church. Three priests—G. Kostelnik, G. Melnik, and A. Pelevckij—backed by the Soviet government, founded a “Committee for Reunion with the Orthodox Church,” which on 8 March 1946 officially proclaimed reunion with the Moscow Patriarchate. The Soviet government recognized this act as the official abolition of the Union. The Patriarch of Moscow appointed new dissident bishops, and all priests were forced to choose between apostasy and deportation. Not a few yielded, though their exact number is unknown.
VII. R. IN SUB-CARPATHIA. — The southern slopes of the Carpathians descending to the Hungarian plain were inhabited by Ruthenians, Byzantine-Slav Christians of a date not precisely determinable, with their religious center at the monastery of St Nicholas near Mukachevo, the residence of the bishop, who was dependent on the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Sub-Carpathian Ruthenians returned to union with Rome in the 17th century through the efforts of their bishops Basil Tarasovič (d. 1648), Partenius Rostinskij (d. 1668), and especially the Greek John De Camillis (1689–1706). The Uniate bishops had to overcome serious difficulties due to the Turkish wars and the hostility of the Calvinist family of the princes Rákóczi. In 1775 Bishop Andrew Bačinskij transferred his see to Užhorod, a more important city, and in 1778 opened a seminary there. In 1818 another diocese was erected with its see at Prešov. In reaction against the growing Magyarization of the clergy and the Latinization of the rite, a flourishing political-religious movement developed. When, after the war of 1914–18, the Sub-Carpathian Ruthenians found themselves within the Czechoslovak Republic, violent reaction against Magyarization broke out, leading in the years 1920–23 to a partial schism among the Uniates. To stem the movement, the Holy See entrusted the dioceses to Ruthenian bishops of origin and sentiment who enjoyed the esteem and trust of their people: Mukachevo to Peter Gebej (1924–32) and then to Alexander Stojka (1932–43), Prešov to Dionys Nyaradi (1922–27) and then to Peter Gojdič (from 1927).
The following two decades marked great economic, social, cultural, and also religious progress for the Sub-Carpathian Ruthenians, promoted by the secular clergy, the Basilians, and the Eastern Redemptorists. Ecclesiastical institutions, schools, and religious printing flourished. After the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia in 1938–39, the see of Mukachevo fell within Hungary, while that of Prešov remained in Slovakia. In 1945 nearly the entire territory of the diocese of Mukachevo was annexed to the Soviet Union. After the violent suppression of Bishop Theodore Romža (1947), Soviet authorities proceeded to liquidate the Union by methods already tested in the metropolitan see of Halych, and the diocese of Mukachevo was officially incorporated into the Patriarchate of Moscow on 28 August 1949.
Meanwhile, the diocese of Prešov, remaining in the restored Czechoslovakia, was then resuming normal life and counted 305,000 faithful with 300 priests. But in 1948 Czechoslovakia too came under a communist regime, which, as part of its general campaign against the Catholic Church, proceeded to suppress the Union, which was officially dissolved on 28 April 1950 with the subjection of the diocese of Prešov to the Patriarch of Moscow. Bishop Peter Gojdič, together with his auxiliary Basil Hopko and numerous resisting priests, were imprisoned.
VIII. R. IN EMIGRATION. — In the 19th century, difficult economic and social conditions drove many Ruthenians—both from Galicia and from Sub-Carpathia—to emigrate to other regions of Europe and America. To provide religious assistance to the emigrants, Ruthenian priests, both secular and religious, followed them; for the largest groups, the Holy See also appointed its own bishops.
The Ruthenians in Yugoslavia are under the jurisdiction of the Uniate see of Križevci (v.). In the United States, the Apostolic Exarchate for Ruthenians originating from Galicia (with its see in Philadelphia) has 302,775 faithful, and that for Ruthenians from Sub-Carpathia (with its see in Pittsburgh) has 299,305. In Canada there are the Apostolic Exarchate of Western Canada (see Edmonton) with 310,355 faithful, and the Exarchate of Central Canada with 107,355, which in 1951 was divided into the Exarchate of Manitoba (see Winnipeg) and that of Saskatchewan (see Saskatoon). The Ruthenians in Brazil (ca. 100,000) and Argentina (ca. 120,000) are under Latin bishops. The emigrants and recent Ruthenian refugees in the countries of Western Europe (ca. 150,000) are administered by the Apostolic Visitor resident in Rome.
IX. ASSESSMENTS
The Uniate Ruthenians—5,182,285 in all—constitute the largest group of Eastern-rite Catholics. While cultivating the ancient canonical, liturgical, and spiritual traditions of Eastern Christianity, yet remaining in communion with the Apostolic See, they were living proof that the universal Catholic Church is not merely de iure but also de facto one. Surmounting difficult historical vicissitudes, the Ruthenians have demonstrated vigorous and fruitful vitality. At this moment, only the Ruthenians in emigration can freely continue these Eastern and Catholic traditions. The ancient Ruthenian episcopal sees in Halych and Sub-Carpathia have been usurped by dissident bishops, while the bishops, priests, and laity faithful to union with Rome are persecuted, exiled, and imprisoned. Yet precisely these persecuted are the pledge of the future rebirth of the Ruthenian Church.X. RUTHENIAN RITE
The Ruthenian Rite is the Byzantine Rite as it was practiced before 1945 in the Catholic eparchies of Lviv, Przemyśl, and Stanislav in Poland, of Mukachevo and Prešov in Czechoslovakia, of Križevci in Yugoslavia, and as it is currently used in the ordinariates for Ruthenians in Canada and the United States, among numerous groups of Ruthenians in South America, and among the dispersed communities in Central and Western Europe. Among the Eastern Catholic Churches, it is the largest group.
The Ruthenian Rite originated in Kyiv when this region accepted Christianity from Constantinople in the 11th century and began to celebrate the liturgy in Old Slavonic. The translations came from the Bulgarians and Serbs, but the Rite developed distinctive characteristics and lacked strict uniformity. The divergences are evident in the manuscript codices and did not disappear when the printing of liturgical books began in the 17th century in Strytan, Ostrih, Vilnius, Kyiv, and Lviv. The true father of the Ruthenian Rite was the dissident metropolitan of Kyiv, Petro Mohyla (1633–47), particularly through his editions of the *Liturgicon* (1629–39) and the *Euchologion* or *Trebnik* (1646). At that time, Kyiv, under Polish rule, was strongly influenced by the West in its schools, academies, theological doctrines, and even in its liturgy—for example, regarding the consecratory value of Christ’s words and the form of all the Sacraments. The lack of understanding, and at times the contempt of Latins for the Eastern Rite, led to the omission, alteration, or amplification of certain ceremonies.
When, around 1685, Kyiv passed under Moscow’s rule, the Mohyla reform continued in Galicia, where the eparchies had not yet adhered to the Union of Brest-Litovsk. Meanwhile, in the northern regions (Polotsk, Vilnius, Suprasl), where the Union had taken firm root, contact with the Latins brought about significant liturgical changes, evident, for example, in the first edition of the *Liturgicon*, printed in Vilnius in 1692. However, when the bishops of Lviv and Przemyśl accepted the Union, a synod was convened to seek greater uniformity between north and south. The Synod of Zamość (1720) confirmed some ritual changes introduced in the north but deferred other decisions to a later time. A more unrestrained Latinization then began, despite the constant but weak opposition of conservative elements and without the approval of the Holy See. This dualism persisted until the present day. At the request of the Ruthenian hierarchy, the Holy See undertook the publication of liturgical books with the aim of preserving the authentic and genuine Rite. Among these are the *Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom* (1940), the *Liturgicon* with the calendar (1942), the *Evangeliary* (selected Gospels, 1943), selected Epistles (1944), the Office of Easter (1944), the *Mali Trebnik* (1947), the *Casoslov* (1950), and, in Latin, a *Ceremonial for Vespers, Matins, and Divine Liturgy* (1945). — See plates XCIII–XCIV.