TORONTO – Patriarch Sviatoslav, primate of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC), on December 8 presented the highest distinction awarded by the UGCC – the Order of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky – to the Institute of Eastern Christian Studies named after Metropolitan Andrey.
The Sheptytsky Institute is an autonomous academic unit of the Faculty of Theology of the University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto. The ceremony was held at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Philadelphia.
The award was accepted on behalf of the institute by its founder and first director, Father Andriy Chirovsky, and its current director, Father Peter Galadza, along with Father Andriy Onuferko, a former staff member. Also present for the ceremony were two members of the Sheptytsky Institute Foundation, Dr. Andrew Browar and Taras Pidzamecky, of Chicago and Toronto, respectively. This was the second time the award was presented. Last month it was awarded for the first time to Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the renowned archbishop of Vienna.
With this order, the Synod of Bishops and the head of the UGCC – the largest Eastern Catholic Church in the world – recognized the Sheptytsky Institute’s long-standing work. The certificate accompanying the medal notes that the Sheptytsky Institute has preserved and studied the legacy of the righteous Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, and the UGCC acknowledges its fruitful scholarly activity, its education of clergy, and its active international, inter-religious and inter-denominational endeavors.
A particular merit of the Sheptytsky Institute, noted by the Church’s leadership, has been sharing the treasures of Eastern Christian spirituality in the social and cultural context of North America, as it is the only university-level scholarly institution operating under the aegis of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in North America.
“The Sheptytsky Institute, which for so many years has furthered the legacy of Righteous Metropolitan Andrey, is one of the most worthy [institutions] to which this medal can be awarded,” said Patriarch Sviatoslav in his brief statement. “Today, on behalf of the Mother Church I would like to thank you, dear fathers, who are and were in the leadership of the institute, in the presence of this entire congregation, the bishops of the Permanent Synod of our Church, and in the presence of our Lord.” He noted that the institute’s leadership did not always hear words of gratitude from the Church, but had to overcome and still overcome various difficulties. Presenting the Order, Patriarch Sviatoslav, and with him all those present, sang “Axios” (Worthy) to the Sheptytsky Institute.
During the ceremony in Philadelphia, the order was also awarded to Eugene Czolij, former president of the Ukrainian World Congress, and a former member of the Sheptytsky Institute Foundation.
The Sheptytsy Institute has a long history in North America. The initiative was begun in 1984, immediately after the death of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj. The Board of Trustees of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where the Rev. Dr. Chirovsky taught, approved the launch of the institute in May 1986. Father Chirovsky was its first director: in Chicago and then at St. Paul University in Ottawa. Since 2014, the Rev. Dr. Galadza has headed the institute.
In September 2016, the Sheptytsky Institute became part of the Theology Faculty at the University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto. Through the faculty, the institute provides master’s and doctoral programs and publishes the theological journal Logos: A Journal of Eastern Christian Studies. The journal is Canada’s only peer-reviewed periodical in the area of Eastern Christianity.
“I am delighted about this honor, not because the order was awarded to our institute, but rather because the Synod of Bishops decided to name its highest award after Metropolitan Andrey. He revived our Church and serves as a model for all to follow,” said the founder of the institute Father Chirovsky, who now serves in Tucson, Ariz., and occasionally teaches.
Father Galadza added: “Our institute is small, but we are working hard to raise the intellectual level of our Church in North America. Metropolitan Sheptytsky was dynamically open to knowledge and experience. He was also not afraid of either the ‘East’ or the ‘West’. We continue his tradition. I believe that by using the gift of faith with which the Lord has blessed them and their openness to the West, Ukrainians can play the role of synthesizers of the best thinking of East and West. This will be a real contribution to universal theological thinking.”
About the order
The Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church held in Lviv on September 2-11, 2018, decided to establish the special award – the Order of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky – as the highest award of the father and head of the Church in the memory of the righteous Metropolitan Andrey.
Individuals, public or church institutions, representatives of Churches and religious communities, as well as laypeople, who in their work put into practice the principles of the life and service of the righteous Metropolitan Andrey, may be awarded the order.
About Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky
The Sheptytsky Institute was named after Andrey Sheptytsky (1865-1944), who became the metropolitan, that is, the highest-ranking leader of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in 1901, at the age of 36. He held this position until the end of his life during World War II.
A man of deep prayer, a gifted teacher (who had the equivalent of three doctorates), a dynamic pastor and philanthropist, Sheptytsky founded the Lviv Theological Academy in 1929 in Ukraine. Destroyed by the Soviet regime, the academy was renewed in 1994 and in 2002 reorganized into the Ukrainian Catholic University – the only Catholic university in the former Soviet Union.
Metropolitan Andrey led his flock of some 5 million faithful through two world wars. He was arrested by tsarist Russian forces during World War I and he courageously sheltered 150 Jews during Nazi Holocaust. Metropolitan Andrey died soon after the Red Army occupied his city of Lviv in 1944.
In 2015 Pope Francis authorized a decree recognizing the heroic virtue of Metropolitan Andrey, thus bringing him one step closer to beatification and canonization as a saint.