Santa Sofia a Via Boccea () is a church in

Rome, Italy 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, ...

. It is dedicated to

Holy Wisdom Holy Wisdom (, ) is a concept in Christian theology. Christian theology received the Old Testament personification of Wisdom (Hebrew ''Chokmah'') as well as the concept of Sophia (wisdom), Wisdom (''Sophia'') from Greek philosophy, especially ...

("Sancta Sophia" in Latin), one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. It served as the mother church 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 ...

while St. George's Cathedral in

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 ...

was controlled by 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 ...

Description

The church is the

national church A national church is a Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state. The idea was notably discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in a draft discussing ...

for the

Ukrainians Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the List of contemporary eth ...

in Rome, a meeting place and religious center for the community. The

Divine Liturgy Divine Liturgy () or Holy Liturgy is the usual name used in most Eastern Christian rites for the Eucharistic service. The Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Lutheranism, Eastern Lutheran Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Church believe the Divi ...

is celebrated according to the Byzantine-Ukrainian rite, whilst still in

full communion Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations or Christian individuals that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constit ...

with the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. The church was built in 1967–1968 on the orders of Cardinal

Josyf Slipyj Josyf Slipyi (, born as ; 17 February 1892 – 7 September 1984) was a Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. Life Genealogy Josyf Slipyj's father, Joannes (Ivan) Slipyj, was born 17 ...

, the Major Archbishop of Lviv, who had spent about 18 years in a Soviet

gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

, and upon his release was not allowed to return to

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The building is modeled after

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

Saint Sophia Cathedral Saint Sophia Cathedral may refer to: * Saint Sophia Cathedral in Harbin, the Russian Orthodox cathedral in Harbin, China * Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine * Saint Sophia Cathedral, London, United Kingdom * Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod ...

. The

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

s of

Pope Clement I Clement of Rome (; ; died ), also known as Pope Clement I, was the Bishop of Rome in the late first century AD. He is considered to be the first of the Apostolic Fathers of the Church. Little is known about Clement's life. Tertullian claimed ...

(88-97) are kept in the church. Following the Byzantine rite, the church has an

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere withi ...

, painted by Juvenalij Josyf Mokryckyj. In 1985

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

erected the church as one of the

titular church In the Catholic Church, a titular church () is a Churches in Rome, church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the Holy orders in the Catholic Church, clergy who is created a Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal. These are Catholic churches in ...

es suitable for a cardinal-priest. In 1998 the church was raised to the status of a

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

Cardinal Priest title

The first

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. ...

of Santa Sofia was Myroslav Cardinal Lubachivsky. Lubomyr Cardinal Husar, MSU, Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halych, held the titular church from his appointment as a cardinal on 21 February 2001 until his death in 2017. Cardinal Mykola Bychok, Eparch of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne, holds the current title. *

Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky (; 24 June 1914 – 14 December 2000), cardinal, was bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia in the United States and from 1984 major archbishop of Lviv and head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic C ...

(25 May 1985 – 14 December 2000) * Lubomyr Husar (21 February 2001 – 31 May 2017) *

Mykola Bychok Mykola Bychok, (; born 13 February 1980) is a Ukrainian Greek Catholic prelate who has served as Eparch of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne, Australia since 2020. Pope Francis made him a cardinal on 7 December 2024, making him the youngest m ...

(7 December 2024 – present)

References

External links

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

Ukrainian Catholic churches in Italy Roman Catholic churches completed in 1968 Ukrainian diaspora in Italy 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy {{Lazio-RC-church-stub

Description

Cardinal Priest title

See also

References

External links