The Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome. The present Archbishop is Mieczysław Mokrzycki (ordained on 29 September 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI).[1]
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There are about four million[2] Catholics in the country — about 8% of the total population. Roman Catholic church in Ukraine, by 2007 information, has 905 communities, 88 monasteries, 656 monks and nuns, 527 priests, 713 churches (74 churches are being built), 39 missions, 8 educational institutions, 551 Sunday schools, 14 periodical editions.[2][3]
Ukrainian Catholics follow several rites — the Ukrainian Rite, the Latin Rite and the Ruthenian Rite. Before World War II the Armenian Rite also had a notable presence.
During the next five years after the end of WWII, Stalin’s government in Ukrainian SSR killed 3600 Ukrainian Catholic priests and closed or razed 1000 Ukrainian Catholic church, according to a Vatican report released in 1950.[4]
The majority of Ukrainian Catholics belong to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The Latin Rite in the territories of modern Ukraine has been strongly associated with Poland and Poles.
In 2001, Ukraine was visited by Pope John Paul II, who held official and informal meetings in Kiev and Lviv.[5] Obviously the Roman Catholic and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Churches warmly greeted a visit from their spiritual father. Non-Catholic religious communities expressed hope that the visit would encourage a spiritual and cultural renewal in a country troubled by economic and social problems.[6]
Catholic charity Caritas Spes (by 2007 information) functiones in 12 regions of the country, has 40 centers engaging 500 employees and volunteers.[7] It runs six family-style homes for orphans with 60 children, financed health rehabilitation camps situated in environmentally healthful areas around Kiev, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Transcarpathian regions, benefits 2,500 children each year. About 12,000 Ukrainian children, mainly victims of Chernobyl, orphans, and children from poor families, had their health improved in this way in 2002-2007.[7]
See: List of Roman Catholic dioceses in Ukraine
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