SAINTS PETER AND PAUL
UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
PHOENIXVILLE
Ukrainian Greek Catholics began to settle the Phoenixville region at the start of the 20th century. These immigrant families from Western Ukraine initially worshiped at St. Michael's Byzantine Catholic Church in Mont Clare. On April 4, 1928 a meeting was held to establish an Ukrainian Catholic Church in Phoenixville. Their first visiting priest was Father Eugene Bartosh of Camden, NJ. This small but spiritually strong group of men and women soon decided to raise funds to build a small church of their own.
With God's blessing, the construction of the new church began on July 28, 1929 and the cornerstone was blessed on October 17 of the same year.. Andrej Nesspor, a member of the newly-established parish, was named architect and builder. A dedication service was held on Christmas morning in 1929. In the spring of 1931 Father Hryhorij Smaylo was assigned the first Ukrainian Catholic pastor for the newly formed parish.
Simultaneously, the parishioners organized “Saturday School” in order to teach their children about their Ukrainian national and religious heritage. In the next several years a parish hall was built to serve the parish's social needs as well as a school for the parish youth. Grounds for the church cemetery was purchased on Filmore Street and the rectory was purchased.
As the parish grew, there was a need for a larger church. Under the leadership of Rev. Isidore Nahayevsky, the old church was torn down and a new church was built. Construction began in March, 1970 and was completed the summer of 1971. Plans were prepared by Architect G.C. Freeman of Reading, and the church was built by Builder Cyrus J. Ecker of Sanatoga. Inside the cornerstone there is a piece of rock from St. Peter’s Tomb in the Vatican, as well as a piece of rock from St. George’s Cathedral in Lviv, Western Ukraine. This is a symbol of spiritual unity of SS Peter and Paul Parish in Phoenixville with those two centers of Christianity.
Rev. Ihor Royik
301 Fairview Street Phoenixville, PA 19460
Our History
Priests Who Have Served
Rev. Eugene Bartosh, 1928 - 1929
Rev. Dmytro Mykytiak, 1930
Rev. Hryhorij Smaylo, 1931 - 1941
Rev. Basil O. Sheremeta, 1942 - 1946
Rev. Marian Kawola, 1947 - 1949
Rev. John Dorohovich, 1949 - 1950
Rev. Paul Shymansky, 1951 - 1954
Rev. Stephen Sulyk, 1955 - 1956
Rev. Stephen Malaniak, 1956 - 1968
Rev. Martin Canavan, 1968
Rev. Isidore Nahayewsky, 1968 - 1973
Rev. John Beckage, 1973 - 1976
Rev. Emil Nakonechny, 1977 - 1978
Rev. Edward Levandusky, 1978 - 1982
Rev. Andrew Baunchalk, 1983 - 1990
Rev. Ronald Popivchak, 1991 - 2006
Rev. Mykola Ivanov, 2006 - 2012
Rev. Stepan Bilyk, 2012 - 2015
Rev. Ihor Royik, 2015 - Present
Did You Know
The Roman (Latin) Rite is the largest Western Catholic Church. There are several Eastern Catholic Churches Rites: Armenian rite, Alexandrian rite, Byzantine rite, East Syrian or Chaldean rite, West Syrian or Antiochene rites, that are also in Union with Rome.
The Eastern Catholic Churches are 23 different particular Churches with their own cultural traditions and heritage formed from their geographical and historical roots. They are autonomous or self-governing, yet these churches, as all Catholic Churches, are in communion with each other and with the Pope of Rome.Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk was elected Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to be the Head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI.
Our church different customs and traditions go back centuries. We are not Orthodox. Our church follows The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, as do the Orthodox. The biggest difference is that Ukrainian Catholics acknowledge the supreme leadership of the Pope of Rome (Pope Francis). The Orthodox leadership is their Patriarch.
Our Liturgical year begins on September 1. Holy Communion is given in the species of bread and wine. To receive Holy Communion open your mouth wide and the priest will gently drop the Holy Eucharist onto your tongue and never touches the mouth.Instead of statues we worship icons. Candles are blessed and distributed on the Feast Day of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple. The large icon screen, called the Iconostas, separates the Sanctuary from the Nave of the church. It is our tradition to give Holy Communion to infants and young children. Our belief is that children are innocent and should be able to receive Jesus in the Eucharist. We bless ourselves from right to left as Jesus is seated on the right hand of the Father. We do not genuflect before entering the pew but bow our heads and make the sign of the cross. We stand from Easter Season until Ascension. The celebrant of the Liturgy faces towards the East, where the sun rises and from which Scripture says Christ will return. Many churches were built, as does our church, facing the East, thereby, having the church members and the celebrant facing God. On special Feast Days we are anointed with oil - we call it Myrovannia. On the Feast Day of Transfiguration we bless fruits. The first-fruits of the harvest is giving back to the Lord what is His and what comes from Him, and as a celebration of the promise of the final Transfiguration of all things in Christ. On the Feast Day of Dormition of the Mother of God, flowers are blessed.
Difference Between Rites
The proper way to refer to the Roman Catholic Church under the jurisdiction of Rome is simply, the Latin Church. That is because there are millions of Catholics who are not part of the Roman Catholic Church. But they belong to THE Catholic Church and are subject to the Pope. The Catholic Church is made up of 24 individual churches, all in union with Rome. Roman Catholic is the Latin Rite, and it stands alone among the 24. On November 21, 1964, Pope Paul VI, validated the encyclical, Lumen Gentium, (Light of the Nations). It described not only the Church’s mission in the world as it moved forward toward the 21st century, but most importantly, it declared that the “Church is the People of God.” Lumen Gentium said that the Church is a body of churches that are all united with the Bishop of Rome. He is their guardian.
Lumen Gentium also acknowledged that all the other Catholic Churches have their own hierarchical structure and their own liturgies. These Catholic Churches are not the estranged Eastern Orthodox churches but rather, these are the ones in union with Rome. They were founded by the apostles and are autonomous Churches entitled to their own rightful existence (sui juris). Any Catholic (including you and I) may attend these churches freely and receive the sacraments in any of them. The bottom line to that is—Catholic is Catholic.
So, who are these Catholic Churches that, besides the Latin Rite, number twenty-three? First, we must acknowledge that the Latin Rite makes up about 95% of the whole Catholic Church. And if we are, in fact, ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, and APOSTOLIC, how can there be 24 different churches? Well, when Jesus founded His church, He commissioned the apostles to go out and preach and baptize. We all know that St. Peter established the church in Rome and its primacy was affirmed by his blood. But Jesus commissioned ALL of His apostles to go forth and preach and baptize, not just Peter.
Many of us do not realize that the other apostles also founded churches in other places and established bishops to rule over them. And in establishing different churches in different areas of the world, different customs and traditions were incorporated into the liturgies.
So today, there are 24 Catholic Churches, and they are grouped into eight different rites. (A rite being defined as the liturgical, spiritual, theological, and disciplinary heritage of the people of that church). It follows that since languages and customs and history were different, customs from the areas manifested themselves.
However, among the 24 Churches, Catholic dogma remained intact. Eastern Catholics (no matter what rite; Byzantine, Chaldean, Armenian, etc.),will not call themselves Roman Catholic. We know them as Ukrainian Catholics, Maronite Catholics, Greek-Catholic, etc. One thing is obvious and cannot be denied; The Catholic Church is truly a universal Church.
