The Bilaniuk Collection: a resource for Eastern Christian studies (01/29/06)

The Bilaniuk Collection: a resource for Eastern Christian studies

by Rosemary O'Hearn

OTTAWA - The Very Rev. Prof. Dr. Petro B.T. Bilaniuk was an accomplished Ukrainian Catholic theologian and an avid book collector. After his death in 1998, his extensive library was donated in memoriam to the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies at St. Paul University in Ottawa and was recently integrated into the university's Jean-Lèon Allie Library.

At the official opening of the collection on January 17, the widow of the late Rev. Bilaniuk, Marie Therese Bilaniuk, Ph.D., remarked, "I was so happy when my (late) husband promised his books to the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute!" Having lived in a house weighed so heavily with books that the floors sagged, she remembers suggesting that they buy a second home and leave the first house for the books.

The donated collection represents a lifetime of systematic book purchases, consuming an average of 25 percent of Father Bilaniuk's family budget. As Father Andriy Chirovsky noted in his taped presentation from Arizona, "He was cognizant that he was building a library not just for himself, but for the Ukrainian Church. Students studying at the institute, as well as visiting scholars, can now benefit from the time, effort and money that Prof. Bilaniuk put into developing this collection."

While St. Paul University has the largest theological library in Canada, it began to develop its holdings in Eastern Christian Studies only in the early 1990s when the institute moved to Ottawa.

Chief Librarian André Paris noted that "as soon as the Sheptytsky Institute approached the library with the idea of this donation, the library seized on the opportunity, understanding the value of the collection and its importance for Eastern Christian Studies."

The collection contains over 1,000 entries of books, multi-volume editions, periodicals, pamphlets, music and art publications in the field of Eastern Slavic Christendom. There are materials on moral theology, philosophy, Christian art and architecture, biography, old Ukrainian literature, medieval Slavic Christianity, Byzantine history and general history of Ukraine.

Prof. Bilaniuk was born on August 4, 1932, in Zalischyky, Halychyna (about 40 miles east of Kolomyia). He emigrated to Canada in 1949. After earning a number of degrees, including two doctorates, he joined the Faculty of St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto in 1962. Prof. Bilaniuk was soon recognized as a leading authority on the theology, history and culture of the Eastern Christian Churches, and a pioneer of Ukrainian theological scholarship. He authored over 160 articles and 13 books.

Over 70 people attended the official collection opening. The master of ceremonies, the institute's acting director, Father Andrew T. Onuferko, thanked the Bilaniuk family on behalf of the institute and university community. Vice-Rector for Academics, Denis Hurtubise emphasized the value of the collection for the university's Eastern Christian Studies Programs.

The Akord Ukrainian Men's Choir of Ottawa provided a musical interlude, performing a select number of tradition Ukrainian Christimas carols. The evening concluded with a reception.

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