Archeparchy of São João Batista em Curitiba

About

The Archeparchy of Curitiba (Latin Archeparchia Sancti Ioannis Baptistae Curitibensis Ucrainorum, port. Eparquia de São João Batista em Curitiba dos Ucranianos) is an eparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church with its seat in Curitiba (Paraná, Brazil). The eparchy was founded on November 29, 1971, and on May 12, 2014, it was proclaimed an archeparchy. The jurisdiction of the archeparchy extends to the southeastern part of Brazil, namely the following states: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Tocantins, Bahia, Goiás, Federal District — Gerais, Espiritu Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Parana (eastern part). Thus, the total area of ​​the Curitiba Archeparchy reaches 3,580,599,761 km², and the population is about 177,834,160 people.

Parishes:

• Antônio Olinto (3 parishes);
• Canoinhas (4 parishes);
• the cathedral in Curitiba (5 parishes);
• Curitiba — Martim Afonso (6 parishes);
• Curitiba — Piñerinho (4 parishes);
• Dorizon (3 parishes);
• Iracema (13 parishes);
• Mafra (7 parishes);
• Mallet (7 parishes);
• Paulo Frontin (9 parishes);
• Ponta Grossa (3 parishes);
• Reserve (6 parishes);
• Rio das Antas (8 parishes);
• São Paulo;
• União da Vitória (14 parishes).

According to statistics from 2014, the Archeparchy of Curitiba has 85,000 believers, which are concentrated around 26 parish centers. The pastoral ministry for them is performed by 47 priests, including 21 eparchial, 26 hieromonks, and 2 deacons. In addition, the archeparchy also has consecrated persons: 39 brothers-monks and 170 sisters-nuns. According to Fr. Paul Serbay, Basilian monk, and priest of the Church of St. Josaphat in Prudentopolis (Brazil), “Today, about 500,000 Ukrainians are living in Brazil who are descendants of immigrants from various waves of resettlement, who settled mainly in the modern state of Paraná, centered in Curitiba. Today, the UGCC in Brazil has 23 parishes, 236 churches, 20 secular priests, and 60 hieromonks of the Order of St. Basil the Great.”

Location

Bishop

Since December 13, 2006, His Eminence Bishop Volodymyr Kovbych has been the ruling Bishop of the Archeparchy of St. John the Baptist in Curitiba.

The cathedral of the Curitiba Archeparchy is the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Curitiba (Paraná, Brazil).

History

The history of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Brazil began with the arrival of Basilian missionaries who came after migrants who went overseas more than 120 years ago in search of a better life. Mass emigration to Brazil began in the 1890s, mostly from western Ukraine. Emigrants, mostly Catholics, settled in the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina. The first priests arrived in 1896. The priests of the Order of St. Basil the Great played a prominent role in the first years of the existence of the Ukrainian Church in Brazil. Also, the Sisters of the Servant of the Immaculate Virgin Mary soon arrived. Until 1952, the Ukrainian faithful were under the jurisdiction of Latin bishops from the eparchies of Curitiba (later the archeparchy), Ponta Grossa, and Jacarezinho, the prelates of Palmas, Foz do Iguaçu and Joinville.

In connection with the ever-increasing number of faithful Eastern rites living in Brazil, and to promote their spiritual growth more fruitfully, the Holy Congregation for the Oriental Churches, after examining the situation, issued a decree entrusting all Eastern faithful to one Ordinary. Cardinal Jaime de Barros Camara, Metropolitan and Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, was elected to this ministry.

The decree establishing the Ordinary “Cum Fidelium” of Pope Pius XII was issued on November 14, 1951, and the grand opening took place on Easter Sunday, April 13, 1952. In 1953 he was appointed Vicar General of Fr. Kliment Preima.

Cardinal Jaime was a close friend of Ukrainians, always attentive and helpful in solving the problems facing him. A true defender of Eastern rites, who gave real lessons to Latins on how they should treat and respect Eastern Catholics, which for them were nothing more than rites that only need to be patiently endured, forgetting or ignoring their constant worries that the Holy See demonstrates during centuries to keep them in the Church. Finally, Cardinal Jaime did much for the benefit of Eastern Catholics, guided by the supreme Papal Documents (Father Volodymyr Haneiko, “Iskra Svitla”, Kindra Publishing House, Curitiba, 1985, pp. 71 and 93).

On May 10, 1958, the Catholic Church of the Ukrainian Rite in Brazil received the good news of the appointment of its first bishop, Bishop Joseph Roman Martynets, OSBM. His Holiness Pope Pius XII appointed him titular Bishop of Soldaia and His Eminence Jaime de Barros Camara an Auxiliary Bishop. Bishop Joseph chose the city of Curitiba (Brazil) as his episcopal seat.

On May 30, 1962, His Holiness Pope John XXIII, due to the bull “Qui Divini Consilio”, established the Apostolic Exarchate for the faithful of the Ukrainian rite, appointing Bishop Joseph as the first exarch.

On November 29, 1971, His Holiness Pope Paul VI created the eparchy of St. John the Baptist for Ukrainian Catholics in Brazil, based in Curitiba, Brazil. At the same time, the Pope, with the help of the bull “Cum Christus Jesus”, appointed Bishop Joseph the first eparch. On July 29, 1972, in the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio, His Eminence Umberto Mozzoni, Archbishop Pedro Fedalto of the eparchy of Curitiba, and several bishops of Paraná and Santa Catarina, Bishop Joseph was installed on the throne of the new eparchy.

On the same day that the eparchy was established, Pope Paul VI issued the bull “Ut Curam Omnem”, appointing a new coadjutor bishop, Fr. Ephraim Vasily Kryvy, OSBM, provincial abbot of the province of St. Joseph the Order of St. Basil the Great. The new bishop was ordained in Rome by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on February 13, 1972.

On May 10, 1978, Bishop Joseph Roman Martynets, OSBM, weakened by a serious illness, submitted his resignation from the Holy Father Pope Paul VI. Automatically, his coadjutor, Bishop Ephraim, became the Ruling Bishop of the eparchy of Curitiba. Bishop Joseph moved to the Great Seminary of the Basilian Fathers in Curitiba, where he assisted in the formation of seminarians.

In October 1981, Bishop Joseph suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed and speechless for seven years and four months, but this did not prevent him from giving extraordinary testimony of human, Christian, monastic, and priestly life. He died in complete silence in the “smell of holiness” in the afternoon of February 23, 1989, and was buried on the morning of the 25^th, in the crypt of St. John the Baptist Cathedral in Curitiba.

In taking over the administration of the eparchy, Bishop Ephraim Vasily Kryvyi, OSBM, differed mainly in his entrepreneurial skills and apostolic zeal. In 1972, he began construction of a new eparchial Office in Curitiba. He always encouraged the construction of new churches, making the eparchy extremely active. In addition to church buildings, he built other social and cultural centers, such as the “Home for the Elderly of the Virgin Mary Amparo” in Marcellin and the Cultural and Religious Center “Poltava” in Curitiba. He encouraged and actively participated in cultural events, such as congresses of Ukrainian artists and youth in Brazil.

On December 13, 2006, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI appointed Volodymyr Kovbych, OSBM, the third eparch. He was first appointed coadjutor bishop by His Holiness Pope John Paul II on December 10, 2003, and was ordained bishop on March 21, 2004, in Curitiba by His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar. On February 7, 2007, Bishop Dionysius Lyakhovych, OSBM, Bishop of the Patriarchal Curia in Kyiv, introduced His Beatitude Lubomyr Cardinal Husar to the enthronement of the Curitiba throne.

In addition, the eparchy received two more auxiliary bishops: Fr. Myron Mazur, OSBM, appointed by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on December 21, 2005, and ordained by His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar on February 26, 2006, in Prudentopolis, Brazil; and Bishop Daniel Kozlinsky, appointed on June 20, 2007, and ordained by His Eminence Metropolitan of Winnipeg Lawrence Gutsulyak, OSBM, on September 16, 2007, in Mallet.

Through the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, Pope Francis welcomed the decision of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on the canonical structure of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Brazil. By this decision, the eparchy of São João Batista em Curitiba received the status of an archeparchy with a new archbishop and Metropolitan Volodymyr Kovbych, OSBM. In addition, at the same time, a new eparchy of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was established with a new Ruling Bishop Myron Mazur, OSBM, and its seat in Prudentopolis. The enthronement ceremonies took place on July 13 and 15, 2014, and were presided over by His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Head and Father of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

From now on, the eparchy of Curitiba includes the following parishes: Antonio Olinto, Canoinhas, Cruz Machado, the Cathedral of Curitiba, Curitiba — Martim Afonso, Curitiba — Pinerinho, Dorizon, Iracema, Mafro, Mallet, Paulo Paulo. Sao Paulo, Uniao da Vitoria, with 96 communities. Taking into account the whole of Brazil, it covers the following states: Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Parana (east), Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais, Goiás, Bahia, Tocantins, Sergipe, Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraiba, Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará, Piauí, Maranhão.

The new eparchy of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, was founded with a seat in Prudentopolis. It covers the following parishes: Apucarana, Campo Moran, Cantagalu, Cascavel, Guarapuawa, Irati, Iwai, Patu Branca, Pitanga, Prudentopolis, Roncador, which has about 127 communities. Taking into account the entire territory of Brazil, the following states belong to the new eparchy: Parana (west), Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Rondonia, Acre, Amazonas, Roraima, Pará, Amapa.

Contacts

Address: Rua Maranhão, 1200, Agua Verde, Curitiba, Paraná 80610–000, Brasil

Website: metropolia.org.br