Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada map 2021

The Western Eparchy is an

eparchy Eparchy ( ''eparchía'' "overlordship") is an Ecclesiology, ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. An eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the administra ...

of the

Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada (UOCC; ; ; ) is an Eastern Orthodox church in Canada, primarily consisting of Orthodox Ukrainian Canadians. Its former name (before 1990) was the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada (UGOCC). The C ...

, which itself is under the

Ecumenical Patriarchate The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (, ; ; , "Roman Orthodox Patriarchate, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Istanbul") is one of the fifteen to seventeen Autocephaly, autocephalous churches that together compose the Eastern Orthodox Church. ...

. The Western Eparchy consists of the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

provinces of

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

and

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, and has about 60 churches (most of them country churches), and two cathedral churches ( St. John's Cathedral, Edmonton, and

Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral is a Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on East 10th Avenue just west of Main Street. History The Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Parish was established in Vancouve ...

). In April 2022, just after the start of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, the Western Eparchy formalized an agreement whereby they (and the larger UOCC) could send aid to Ukraine via the Orthodox Church of Ukraine directly.

Current bishop

In 2023, the bishop for the eparchy was Ilarion (Roman Rudnyk), and he is stylized as ''Bishop of Edmonton, and the Western Eparchy''. The last serving bishop for the diocese was

Metropolitan John (Stinka) Metropolitan John (born Ivan Stinka; January 14, 1935 – September 19, 2022) was the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada with title ''John, Archbishop of Winnipeg, and of the Central Diocese, Metropolitan of Canada''. He was enthron ...

, who went on to become the UOCC's Metropolitan, and Archbishop of Winnipeg. John (Stinka) served in the capacity of "Bishop of Edmonton" for 20 years (1985–2005). He died in 2022. Ilarion was elected as Bishop of Edmonton at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church's Sobor (Church Council) on August 23, 2008, in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. This election was later ratified by the Ecumenical Patriarchate's Holy and Sacred Synod, and he was enthroned as Bishop of Edmonton on Sunday, October 26, 2008, at St. John's Cathedral by Metropolitan John. On September 7, 2018, the Chief Secretariat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople Holy Synod announced the appointment of Bishop Hilarion and Archbishop Daniel of Pamphilon as ‘exarchs’ of the Patriarchate of Constantinople for Kiev.OST Kirchen website, ''Metropolitan Emmanuel and Hilarion comment on developments between Constantinople and Moscow'', article published September 11 2018
/ref>

List of bishops

Andrew (Metiuk) Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

(1958–1975).The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada website, ‘’History’’
/ref> * Boris (Yakovkevych) (1975–1983) * John (Stinka) (1985–2005) * Hilarion (Rudnyk) (2008–present)

References

External links

Ukrainian Orthodox Church of CanadaWestern Eparchy official website
{{coord missing, Alberta Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada Edmonton and Western Canada Ukrainian Religious sees in Edmonton

Current bishop

List of bishops

See also

References

External links