Joseph Sembratovych (, ; 8 November 1821,

Krynica-Zdrój Krynica-Zdrój (until 31 December 2001 Krynica, Rusyn language, Rusyn: Криниця ) is a town in Nowy Sącz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern Poland. It is inhabited by over eleven thousand people. It is the biggest spa town in Pola ...

– 23 October 1900) was the

Metropolitan Archbishop Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

of the

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is a Major archiepiscopal church, major archiepiscopal ''sui iuris'' ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic church that is based in Ukraine. As a particular church of the Cathol ...

from 1870 until his resignation in 1882.

Life

Joseph Sembratovych was born on 8 November 1821, son of a priest of the Archeparchy of Przemyśl. Since 1841 he studied in

Wien Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and at the end of his studies, on 7 October 1845 he was ordained

Priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

. He remained in Wien where he obtained a doctorate in theology in June 1846. Returned to Galicia, he started his career in the

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, moving later in 1852 to Wien where he was appointed vice-rector of the Greek Seminary, and later he appointed Professor of

Biblical Studies Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...

in the

University of Lviv The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The university is the oldest institution of highe ...

. On 24 March 1865 he was appointed titular bishop of

Nazianzus Nazianzus or Nazianzos (), also known as Nandianulus, was a small town of ancient Cappadocia, and in the late Roman province of Cappadocia Tertia, located 24 Roman miles to the southeast of Archelais. In the Jerusalem Itinerary it is miswritt ...

, and consecrated

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

in St. George's Cathedral, Lviv on 11 June 1865 by Metropolitan Spyrydon Lytvynovych. He moved to Rome where he became the prelate of the Greek-Rite students at College of the Propaganda. In 1867 he was appointed

Apostolic Administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the Archeparchy of Przemyśl. On 18 May 1870 Joseph Sembratovych was designated Metropolitan of Lviv, i.e. the primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, by Emperor

Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...

and so confirmed by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

on 27 June 1870. The enthronement occurred on 7 August 1870. Even if before his appointment as Primate Joseph Sembratovych was supported by the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

Galicians and unpopular with the Ukrainophils and the

Ukrainian Russophiles Galician Russophilia () or Moscophilia (, ''Moskvofily'') was a cultural and political movement largely in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary (currently western Ukraine). This ideology emphasized that since the Eastern S ...

, Joseph Sembratovych during his reign fully espoused the Russophile movement on a level which collided with Ukrainophil politic of the

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

government. He also displeased the Polish because his campaign against drunkenness which deprived them of considerable profits. The case that finally led to his resignation was the affair of Ivan Naumovich, a priest who favored the conversion of a whole village to the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

. The Austrian government asked and obtained his resignations, tendered on 22 December 1882. The next Metropolitan was his nephew Sylvester Sembratovych (later also a cardinal). After his resignation, he moved to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

where he died on 23 October 1900.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sembratovych, Joseph 1821 births 1900 deaths People from Krynica-Zdrój Clergy from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Higher Scientific Institute for Diocesan Priests at St. Augustine's alumni Lemkos Metropolitans of Galicia (1808-2005) Leaders of the Ruthenian Uniate Church