Archbishop Stephen, leader of Kyiv Patriarchate's parishes in United States and Canada, dies at 89 (11/19/06)

Archbishop Stephen, leader of Kyiv Patriarchate's parishes in United States and Canada, dies at 89

COOPER CITY, Fla. - Archbishop Stephen (Bilak), leader of the Vicariate of U.S. and Canadian parishes of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate and archbishop of Boryspil, died on November 10 . He was 89.

Funeral services were scheduled to be held at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Cooper City, Fla., on Friday and Saturday, November 17-18. Archbishop Alexander (Bykovetz) of Detroit was to lead the services assisted by clergy of the UOC-KP.

Archbishop Stephen was born August 17, 1917, in the Carpathian Mountain region of Ukraine. He studied theology in seminaries in Uzhhorod and Mukachiv, as well as in Warsaw.

Once he was ordained to the priesthood, he was appointed assistant pastor of St. Michael Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Berlin. After the end of World War II, Father Bilak and his family moved to Goslar, Germany, where he organized St. Nicholas Parish and became its pastor.

In 1946 he was appointed religion lecturer at the secondary school (gymnasium) in Hallendorf, Germany, and the following year he moved to the Westphalia region, where he organized a large Orthodox parish and continued to teach religion, as well as history, in the local elementary and secondary schools.

In December 1949 Father Bilak emigrated to the United States, where Metropolitan John Theodorovich appointed him pastor of the parish in Jones, Okla. Less than a year later he and the parishioners organized a new church.

During the next six years the Rev. Bilak was pastor of St. Michael Parish in Minneapolis. Later he served as pastor in Woonsocket, R.I., and Passaic, N.J., and in 1963 he was invited to become pastor of the St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Philadelphia, where he remained for 18 years. His greatest achievement there was erecting a new church and rectory.

For his many years of service - over 20 - the Rev. Bilak was elevated by Metropolitan John to mitred priest. Soon thereafter, Metropolitan Mstyslav Skrypnyk named him a protopresbyter.

At the 1981 Sobor of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, the Rev. Protopresbyter Bilak was elected president of the Church's Consistory. For the next decade, in addition to his pastoral work, he was vice-president of the Consistory, a member of the Metropolitan's Council, head of the Philadelphia deanery and spiritual adviser to the Ukrainian Orthodox League.

For many years, Father Bilak delivered Ukrainian-language sermons over the airwaves of Voice of America on broadcasts to then Soviet-dominated Ukraine.

In 1983 the Rev. Bilak took the helm at St. Nicholas Parish in Miami, where he and the faithful built a new church.

Father Bilak was active also in other Ukrainian community organizations, most notably the Ukrainian National Association. He served on the organization's Auditing Committee for three terms, from 1978 to 1990. During that time he devoted special attention to the UNA's Svoboda publishing house and its two newspapers, the Svoboda daily and The Ukrainian Weekly.

He was recognized for his contributions to the UNA in 1990 with election as an honorary member of the UNA Supreme Assembly (today known as the General Assembly).

Though he was a long-time member of the hierarchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A., after the UOC-USA leadership decided in 1995 to come under the omophorion of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople, the Rev. Bilak opted for the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate.

On December 17, 1998, the Rev. Bilak was named pastor of St. Nicholas Church in Cooper City, Fla.; just under a year later he asked to be relieved of that post, but continued to serve as honorary pastor.

In 2002, after the death of his wife, Olena, Father Bilak was contacted by Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate, who informed him that he would like to consecrate him a bishop.

First, however, Father Bilak became a monk in ceremonies held on May 17, 2002. The next day he was formally asked to accept the role of bishop, and on May 18, 2002, he was officially ordained and enthroned as bishop by Patriarch Filaret in ceremonies at St. Nicholas Church in Cooper City.

On May 20, 2002, Bishop Stephen was named to head the Vicariate of the UOC-KP in the United States and Canada. At the same time, the Vicariate's constitution was adopted and a Bishop's Council, comprising four clergy and four laypersons, was elected.

The Vicariate's website said of Bishop Bilak's enthronement: "This is a momentous occasion, for it firmly establishes the Kyivan Patriarchate within the borders of the United States and Canada and unites all parishes which have declared their allegiance to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate, under one central leadership."

In October 2004, the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate elevated Bishop Stephen to archbishop.

Archbishop Stephen leaves behind a daughter, Irene, with her husband, Valerii Lavruk.

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