Ukrainian Canadians celebrate their roots in Montreal

MONTREAL — Saint Michaels Ukranian Catholic Church is a lot like the Ukrainian community is serves: venerable, sturdy and admirable.

The church services one of five Ukranian-Catholic parishes on the island. It's also the oldest, built in 1917.

Saint Michaels is considered a home-base of the 30,000 Ukranian Quebecers which is celebrating 120 years in the province.

Many, like Bohdanna Monzczak are grateful for their lives in Canada which offered refuge from war-torn Eastern Europe where warring Russians and Germans had brought destruction to their land and many were imprisoned or killed.

"Right after the war, this was really paradise and I still think this is paradise," she said. "The church was full of people with a beautiful choir. Everybody was welcoming. We could have freedom and we could have whatever we wanted here," said Monzczak.

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Source: ctvmontreal.ca

Dynamic young leader takes helm of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

The names of two esteemed religious figures resonate when Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the new head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, speaks.

One died well before the archbishop was born. The other when he was rooted in his religious career. The spirits of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky – the pious, savvy and bold leader of Ukraine’s Greek Catholic Church during World War II – and John Paul II promise to be guiding forces as Shevchuk embarks on his journey of leading a global church which numbers five million faithful.

At 41, Shevchuk is one of the youngest people to head the church, which adheres to Catholic tenets but practices Byzantine rites. He is only a few years older than Sheptytsky was when he took office in 1901.

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Source: Kyiv Post