Neil:
+John is a Ukrainian Hierarch, and was ordained in the Ukrainian GCC, and his metropolitan is the Metropolitan of Winnipeg. He is the Bishop for the Slovenians, but is himself a Ukrainian.
See the Canadian CCB bio sketch on him. Or talk to him. His Grace is VERY approachable.
Aramis,
The Eparchy of Saints Cyril & Methodius in Toronto of the Slovaks is not of the Metropolia of Winnipeg; it is immediately subject to the Holy See (
i.e., the Oriental Congregation), as are all canonical jurisdictions of Eastern and Oriental Catholic Churches sited in the diaspora.
Vladyka John is not Bishop of the Slovenes, but the Slovaks. The Slovenes, regretably, have no Byzantine jurisdictions - neither in the US nor in their native land.
Vladyka John indeed served, prior to his appointment to the episcopate, as a priest in the Ukrainian Archeparchy of Winnipeg. But, not unlike the question of to which Church or Rite an Eastern Rite hierarch would belong if elected to the papacy, one becomes on elevation what one then is.
Vladyka John is, btw, ethnically Rusyn/Slovak - not Ukrainian - (Pasak/Pacsak/Paszkiewicz.) That he served a UGCC parish is a function of the fact that his services were needed there and, as a Byzantine Redemptorist, he’d have been subject to transfer within the canonical jurisdictions served by the Redemptorists of the Byzantine Churches (which includes the Winnipeg Archeparchy) based on such. The historically Latin orders with Byzantine provinces (
e.g., the Redemptorists, Jesuits, Franciscans) tend to assign clergy as needed, within the Rite of ascription, rather than the particular Church to which ordained.
When Vladyka John was ordained to the episcopate, Vladyka Michael, then-Archbishop of Winnipeg of the Ukrainians was the principal consecrator by virtue of episcopal seniority and that Vladyka John was of his clergy. The principal co-consecrators were Vladyka Basil, Archeparch of Pittsburgh of the Ruthenians. and Vladyka Milan Chauteur, Apostolic Exarch of Kosice of the Slovaks.
Note that the Slovaks are more properly Ruthenian, not Ukrainian, and that Presov and Kosice - the present Slovak canonical jurisdictions in their homeland were, historically, Ruthenian. The Slovaks in Canada are charged with pastoral care of those Ruthenians in Canada, since the latter are without their own hierarchy and clergy there (as the Ruthenians in the US are charged with the pastoral care of Byzantine Slovaks in the US, for the same reasons), while the Ukrainians in Canada are charged with pastoral care of Byzantine Hungarian and Romanian Catholics in their country.
Note too that Vladyka John is, reportedly, under serious consideration to be named as successor to Vladkya Andrew (should the latter ever finally retire :
).
As to a CCCB bio of Vladyka John, I am unaware of any narrative biography. CCCB “bios” are typically bare-bones sketches, containing only relevant dates and contact info.
Many years,
Neil (looking at the thread topic and wondering how we got here
)
