Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada - Early History

Early History

Most ethnic Ukrainians moving to Canada from Galicia (Western Ukraine) in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were Greek Catholics, and were tended early on by the local Roman Catholic hierarchy. This was because the American Catholic bishops believed that the presence of married Eastern Catholic priests would create a scandal at the time. The other major group of Ukrainians which were coming to Canada were from Bukovina, and they were mostly Orthodox. At first these Orthodox Christians were served by the Russian Orthodox Mission in North America (which at that time was part of the Russian Orthodox Church), but these services were not conducted in their native Ukrainian language. Catholics and the Orthodox who wanted to establish their own church met in the summer of 1918 the city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and established the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church in Canada. Also at these meetings, the delegates (mostly from Alberta, Saskatchewan, & Manitoba) had established a Brotherhood to try and help the young church.

The settlers had just created a new Church, but they were very conscious of Church Canon Law that states that a Church cannot exist without a bishop. The Church's Brotherhood tried to have Archbishop Alexander of the Russian Orthodox Mission to take the Church under his temporary care as Bishop. At first Archbishop Alexander agreed, but later declined; however, the UGOC's First Sobor (Church Council) still took place as planned on December 28, 1918 in Saskatoon. This Sobor led to the establishment of the Church's first seminary in Saskatoon. The Brotherhood still searched for a temporary Bishop, and eventually found one: Metropolitan Germanos (Shehadi), who was the Metropolitan of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. He led the Church for the next 5 years (1919-1924). Under his supervision, Sobor II took place in Saskatoon, and was held on November 27, 1919.