Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford

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"The Chateau" at St. Basil College in Stamford, Connecticut was originally the college dormatory and now houses the Ukrainian Museum and Library of Stamford.^[1]

The Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford is a diocese of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church covering parishes in New York State and New England.

The diocese headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut includes St. Vladimir Cathedral, a chancery at 14 Peveril Road in Stamford, and St. Basil College. The diocese publishes The Sower, a monthly newsletter with articles written in both English and Ukrainian, from its offices in Stamford.

Bishop Paul Patrick Chomnycky, O.S.B.M., heads the Stamford diocese. Pope Benedict XVI announced on January 3, 2006 that he had accepted the resignation of Bishop Basil H. Losten, who had reached the mandatory age of retirement, and that Bishop Chomnycky, then the Apostolic Exarch of Great Britain, was appointed as Bishop Losten’s successor as the fourth Bishop of the Eparchy of Stamford.

The Eparchy of Stamford is a suffragan diocese of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, which has authority over all Ukrainian Catholic dioceses and Ukrainian Catholics in the United States.

The Eparchy of Stamford was created in 1956 by Pope Pius XII. The territory was formerly administered by the Eparchate of Philadelphia. Bishop Ambrose Senyshyn of Stamford was named exarchate of the new eparchy. Senyshyn was president of the Ukrainian diocesan schools in Stamford, including the now-defunct St. Basil's Preparatory School.^[2]

The eparchy operated the St. Basel Preparatory School on the cathedral campus from 1933 to 1990. Alumni from the boys' high school typically has reunions every five years for each class. The school was founded by Archbishop Constantine Bohachevsky as "Ukrainian Catholic High School", and its alumni include more than 75 Ukrainian and Roman Catholic priests and two former Connecticut state judges.^[3]

A Ukrainian museum is also on the cathedral campus.^[3]

[edit] St. Basil College Seminary

St. Basil College building

The Eparchy operates the tiny St. Basil College Seminary at 161 Glenbrook Road in Stamford. The college's mission is to educate and prepare men who desire to pursue a vocation to the priesthood for the Ukrainian Catholic Church. "St. Basil is the only Ukrainian Catholic liberal arts college, the only one of its kind outside of Ukraine fully accredited as a senior college by the State Board of Education," according to the Eparchy.^[4] Lubomyr Husar, Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Major-Archdiocese of Lviv, and one of the cardinals considered a possible successor to Pope John Paul II in 2005, was educated at St. Basil's College.

The college opened in September 1939. By 2007 it had graduated 130 students, of which 127 have been ordained to the priesthood, including six elevated to the episcopacy, and the current patriarch and head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.^[4]

Most of the students have been Ukrainian Catholics interested studying spirituality, the Ukrainian rite, Ukrainian history, civilization, language, and literature. In May 2007 three students graduated. The state Department of Higher Education, in the fall of 2005, reaccredited the college for another five years. The American Academy for Liberal Education also granted "institutional pre-accreditation" in 2005.^[4]

[edit] List of parish locations in the Eparchy of Stamford

[edit] Connecticut

• Stamford - Cathedral
• Ansonia
• Bridgeport
• Colchester
• Glastonbury
• Hartford
• New Britain
• New Haven
• Terryville
• Willimantic

[edit] Massachusetts

• Fall River
• Ludlow
• Jamaica Plain (Boston)
• Pittsfield
• Salem
• South Deerfield

[edit] New Hampshire

• Manchester

[edit] New York state

[edit] Rhode Island

• Woonsocket

[edit] Notes

1. ^ [1]"About Us" Web page at the Web site of St. Basil College Seminary, accessed July 26, 2007
2. ^ "From the Archives: The Week of August 6" feature in The Advocate of Stamford, August 7, 2006, page A7
3. ^ ^{a b} Sullivan, Eve, "St. Basil grads hail their alma mater", The Advocate (Stamford)|The Advocate]], of Stamford, Connecticut, July 23, 2006
4. ^ ^{a b c} [2]"ST. BASIL COLLEGE SEMINARY OPENED 67TH ACADEMIC YEAR OF EDUCATION AND FORMATION", news release from the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford, undated but referring to the opening of the new academic year on September 4, 2006

[edit] External links

• Eparchy of Stamford Web site

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