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Eparchy of Imaculada Conceição in Prudentópolis

About

Eparchy of Imaculada Conceição with its center in Prudentópolis is an integral part of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Metropolitanate of St. John the Baptist in Brazil. The eparchy includes the northwestern part of Brazil with the following states: Acre, Amazonas, Roraima, Rondonia, Amapa, Para, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Parana (western part). Thus, the total area of the Prudentopil eparchy reaches 4,936,622,613 km2, and the population is about 28,104,144 people.

Parishes:

  • Apucarana (7 parishes);
  • Campo Moran (7 parishes);
  • Kantagal (10 parishes);
  • Cascavel (7 parishes);
  • Guarapuava (8 parishes);
  • Irati (11 parishes);
  • Ivai (9 parishes);
  • Patu Branco (9 parishes);
  • Pitang (21 parishes);
  • Prudentopolis (34 parishes);
  • Roncador (7 parishes).

In total, the Prudentopil eparchy of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary has 86,400 faithful, united around 124 parish centers. Pastoral ministry for them is carried out by 38 priests, including 5 eparchial and 33 hieromonks. In addition, there are consecrated persons in the eparchy: 33 monk brothers and 198 nun sisters.

Of particular note is the city of Prudentopolis in Paraná, which became the seat of the newly created eparchy of the Immaculate Conception. With a population of 50,000, 75 percent of the population is Ukrainian. This city is the largest concentration of Ukrainians outside Ukraine and is widely known among Brazilians as the Second Vatican. It concentrates on a number of Ukrainian church institutions, such as the Basilian Fathers, the Sisters of the Servant, and the Secular Institute of Catechists of the Heart of Jesus. All the above-mentioned Ukrainian church institutions have developed a wide range of activities for 120 years. They give a special look to this area. The Basilian Fathers have their oldest monastery here, a large former seminary building, which has now been turned into a public high school, a bookstore, a publishing house, a printing house, and a large farm near the city.

The Sisters of the Servant of the Blessed Virgin Mary have their main center here where there is a monastery, a folk high school, the Heart of Jesus Hospital, a home for the sisters of the elderly, and a valuable newly created history museum.

The Institute of Catechisms of the Heart of Jesus, founded by Fr. Christopher Myskiv, OSBM, in the early 1940s, has his main and educational home and boarding school for girls, which is now being turned into a retreat home. Members of the Catechism Institute lead the Ukrainian Saturday School, the folklore group “Veselka”, the parish “Museum of the 1000th Anniversary of Christianity” and the Sunday radio program on the radio “Kopas Verdis”, etc. Near the colony of Eduardo Chavez, there is a monastery of St. Joseph’s Sisters.

Location

Bishop

Since May 12, 2014, His Eminence Bishop Myron Mazur has been the ruling Bishop of the Eparchy of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary (Imaculada Conceição) in Prudentópolis.

The cathedral of the eparchy of Prudentopolis is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Prudentopolis (Paraná, Brazil).

History

In Prudentopolis, which was the center of colonization and refuge of a large number of Ukrainian emigrants, the religious and cultural center of Ukrainian emigration to Brazil developed. First of all, it began with the arrival of the first missionary of the Eastern Catholic rite Fr. Sylvester Kizema, OSBM, who arrived in Prudentopolis with several brothers on July 6, 1897, as well as with the arrival of other priests of the same rite who came successively from Ukraine. In the same year, the first parish of the Greek Catholic rite was founded by Bishop Jose Camargo, the first bishop of Curitiba. On July 8, 1897, the day of the first baptized child, the first Book of Baptisms and Anointings was opened, though in Latin.

The first wooden chapel dates back to 1898. It was a temporary chapel located between St. John’s Avenue and the College of the Sisters of the Servants of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. And the second one also made of wood, larger in size, was built in 1904 in the western corner of the territory, which is now the College of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. Both temples had their patron Saint Basil the Great.

The decree on the establishment of the parish was signed in 1904 by Bishop Jose Camargo, Archbishop of Curitiba.

On April 18, 1923, the blessing of the groundwork of today’s Church took place. Shortly afterward, construction began under the direction of the Basilian Fathers Markian Skirpan and Eustace Turkovid. To this day, the church remains as it was designed and built at the time.

In 1922, the Ukrainian parish had the honor of receiving Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky on a pastoral visit. On August 27, 1939, the church was consecrated by Archbishop Ivan Buchko, the Apostolic Visitor for Ukrainians in Western Europe. On the day of commemoration of the 300th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Josaphat, the church was dedicated to this saint and therefore, was renamed the Church of St. Josaphat.

Other historic visits took place in September 1968, Cardinal Josyf Slipyj arrived, in May 1985, Cardinal Myroslav Ivan Lyubachivsky, and on February 26, 2006, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, ordained two bishops Dionysius Lyakhovych, OSBM, and Myron Mazur.

Through the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, His Holiness 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 St. John the Baptist was elevated to the status of an archeparchy, and the Curitiba metropolitanate was formed, at the same time appointing His Eminence Bishop Volodymyr Kovbych archbishop and metropolitan. In addition, a new eparchy of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary was established with its seat in Prudentopolis (Paraná, Brazil) and the Ruling Bishop, Bishop Myron Mazur, was appointed the first eparchy of 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.

Through the papal bull issued on May 12, 2014, a new metropolis was created, which will continue to have its patron Saint John the Baptist, based in Curitiba (Paraná, Brazil). Also remains the cathedral, residence, and curia of the former Curitiba eparchy.

Instead, a new eparchy of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary was founded with its headquarters in Prudentopolis (Paraná, Brazil). It is a suffragan of the Metropolitan of St. John the Baptist.

Shrines

Pilgrimages to places of release and other holy places have been highly valued since the early days of Christianity as an occasion for the spiritual renewal of the faithful. For many years, eparchial vacations have also emerged in the eparchy of Curitiba such as an eparchial pilgrimage on the third Sunday of Lent in Iracema, a pilgrimage in November especially for young people, to the Mother of Corals on Antonio Olinto, and an eparchial pilgrimage, the Way of the Christ, during the Great Lent in Itapara. With the creation of the Curitiba metropolitanate and the Prudentopolis eparchy, the pilgrimage to Irasem and Antonio Olinto was granted to the metropolitanate, and the pilgrimage to Itapar was granted to the Prudentopolis eparchy.

Contacts

Address: Rua Duque de Caxias, 1615, Prudentópolis, Paraná 84400–000, Brasile<

Phone: +55 (042) 9916-72-57