Lentorama 2012: Know Your Diocese


Day 21: Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Santa María del Patrocinio en Buenos Aires


OK, I'm probably going to screw this up, so bear with me and comment on any factual errors I may make. 


There are a number of Eastern-rite Catholic churches who are in communion with Rome. They operate independently, but recognize the Pope's special status as Bishop of Rome. They're different from the Roman/Latin Rite churches that dominate the Catholic world in some matters of theology and practice, but aren't part of the Orthodox churches that are not in communion.


One of these churches is the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which is apparently the largest of the Eastern Rite churches in full communion. While it has a small footprint in Ukraine, it's grown internationally as Ukrainians dispersed in the face of the various world wars and domination/persecution by the Soviet Union.


Which explains how an eparchy (the Eastern term for a diocese) wound up in Buenos Aires, a location you don't quite think of when you think about Ukranians as one does from time to time.