Sign up for the paNOW newsletter

U of A to document Prince Albert Ukrainian churches

Apr 8, 2013 | 11:45 AM

With Saskatchewan having a long history of Ukrainian immigrants in the prairies, it’s easy to see their churches scattered throughout the province.

Unfortunately, as the hour glasses turns these places of worship are dying out with the population dispersing.

To help preserve the teachings and artifacts a group of scholars from the University of Alberta is travelling across the prairies documenting everything inside and out of Ukrainian and Russian churches and calling it the “Sanctuary Project”.

“It’s a project to photo-document all the Ukrainian and Russian churches in Alberta and Saskatchewan because there is a parallel project in Manitoba as well, and it’s inside and out to record every single artifact in those churches, every piece of artwork, every furnishing and in addition to, interview parishioners,” said John-Paul Himka, professor in the Department of History and Classics and participant in the Sanctuary Project.

“These churches are disappearing. They are very interesting in terms of art history, church history, they’re very interesting and unique features in them and they’re about to disappear. I don’t think they’ll last more than 15 years.”

Planning of the project began in 2007 and in June 2009 they began documenting.

Himka believes there are many reasons why the churches are dying out and eventually being torn down. He said by documenting these churches the knowledge can at least be preserved for future generations.

“People are moving on in a lot these rural communities and that’s a process that’s perhaps natural around the world; urbanization is a major fact, but it also has to do with a change in the major agriculture in the prairies because now farms tend to be large enterprises and 160 acres is almost laughable,” he said.

For Himka, everything about Ukrainian churches is fascinating. He’s been to the Ukraine and the United States of America to study these structures and he said they’re constantly modifying, unlike many in Canada.

“The ones in Canada, you can see things there that began as a tendency in Ukraine in the 17th century that stopped in Ukraine to a certain extent but continued here. You can see things that exist here and continued here that were stopped in Pennsylvania. The trends that you see … [are] reminiscent of things that were codified in the 8th century or 7th century and you can trace all that back,” he said.

This summer Himka and his team will be in Prince Albert to document the ins and outs of a few of the Ukrainian churches including the Ukrainian Catholic Church of St. George and Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity.

Father Michael Lomaszkiewicz, the parishioner of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity said their congregation started in 1920s, but their church wasn’t erected until 1952.

“When they started digging the basement they realized everything is possible and in four years the building was standing here,” Father Lomaszkiewicz said, adding they made additional renovations in 2010.

However, despite renovations and strong faith there has been a drop in membership. Currently there are about 120 members in church, with an additional 100 casual worshippers.

“In ’68 in this church we baptized over 600 children, only in Prince Albert, so where [are] those people? Some move, some [are] not very practical Ukraine Orthodox you know, they [don’t] come to church regularly, maybe just Easter and Christmas days,” he said, adding they still get a few members from other cities.

Father Lomaszkiewicz tried to remain optimistic when asked if he was worried if their church would join the same fate as some of its rural counterparts and fade out.

“We always have a hope that it will be bigger, but remember we are in a foreign country particularly. We are citizens of this country and we love this country, but remember the Ukrainian Orthodox, [what] they brought to this country is a strange and old religion for some people. People like a modern religion, some maybe too modern, but we Orthodox we try to protect and keep the old fashion of the church,” he said, citing long services as an example.

The largely Ukrainian services are trying to appeal to the masses by providing some in English. He said it’s important they use the Ukrainian language in church, but explained over the generations the knowledge has faded out and the church has had to instill English.

“Faith we can express in different languages, not only Ukrainian because we’re from Ukraine, but we can express our faith in the English language and believe strongly that people come with us and pray together.”

He said Ukrainian Orthodox will always be a big part of Canada with one million Ukrainians living in Canada. He finished the same way he started—with faith, adding no matter what the church will permanently be there.

“Always remember the church always will be here because the Lord keeps the church safe.”
The Sanctuary Project will also be visiting the surrounding area documenting churches around Cecil, Honeymoon, MacDowell, Meath Park, Samburg and Weirdale.

sstone@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahstone84