Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/833

 GREEK

747

GREEK

their church year follows the Julian Calendar, which is now thirteen days behind the Gregorian Calendar in use in the United States and Western Europe. Be- sides this, the Ruthenians (and the Russian Ortho- dox likewise), display the so-called "three-armed" (or Russian) cross ^ fashioned in this manner upon their churches 'T and use it upon their mis- sals, prayer-books, paintings and banners, as well as other objects. They make the sign of the cross in the reverse direction to the Roman method, and in their religious services the men and women are segregated from each other upon different sides of their churches.

It is from these people, inhabiting Galicia, Buko- wina, and Hungarj", that the Ruthenian Greek Catho- lic population has come. Tlieir earliest immigration to the United States began in 1S79, from the western portion of Galicia near the Carpathian Mountains, the so-called Lemkovschini, and then spread throughout the Galician and Hungarian sides of the mountains. At first it was hardly noticed, but it grew year by year, the earliest immigrants coming from Grybow, Gorlice, Jaslo, Neu Sandec, Krosno, and Sanok in Galicia, and from Szepes, Saros, Abauj, and Ung in Hungary, until finally the governmental authorities began to notice it. At the post offices in many of the moimtain places in the Ruthenian portion of Galicia it was observed that the peasants were receiving large sums of money from their fathers, sons, or brothers in America. The news spread rapidly, the newspapers and officials taldng it up, and so emigration was at once stimulated to the highest degree. Every year it has increased, and Ruthenian societies are formed here to assist their newly-arrived brethren to find employment and to give information to those at home about America. It is impossible to tell exactly how many Ruthenian and Slovak Greek Catholics liave come to the United States, because no statistics have been kept by the United States Government in regard to religious faith of immigrants, and not always accurate ones in regard to race or nationality. Still the immigration reports show that immigration from Austria-Hungary from 1861 to 1868 was annuallv in the hundreds; and from 1869 to 1879 it ranged from 1500 to 8000 annually ; and in 1880 it suddenly rose to 17,000. From 1880 to 1908 the total immigration from Austria-Hungary to the United States amounted to 2,780,000, and about twenty per cent of these were Ruthenians and Slovaks. Within the last four years (1905-1908) the immigra- tion of the Slovaks and Ruthenians has amounted to 215,972. To this must be added the Croatians and Slavonians (117,695), a large proportion of whom are of the Greek Rite. It is estimated that there are at present in the United States between 350,000 and 400,000 Greek Catholic Ruthenians, including as such the Greek Catholic Slovalis and Croato-Slovenians. The largest number (over one-half) are in Pennsyl- vania, while New York, New Jersey, and Ohio have each a very large number of them, and the remainder are scattered all through the New England and West- ern states. From the best information obtainable in advance of the coming census of 1910 their distri- bution is as follows: —

Pennsylvania

190.000

Indiana

6,000

New York

50,.i00

Minnesota

3,000

New Jersey

40,000

Colorado, Dakota,

Ohio

35„500

Nebraska and

Connecticut

10,000

Montana, about

8,000

Illinois

8,000

West Virginia, Vir-

Massachusetts

7,500

ginia and the

Rhode Island

1,500

Southern States,

Missouri

6,.500

about

5,000

After the Ruthenian immigration had begun in con- siderable numbers, it was but natural that they should desire to establish a Church of their own rite. At

Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, the Ruthenian settlement had so increased tluit towards the end of LsS-l they sent a petition to Arcliliish(i|i (aflcrward.s ( 'ardinal) Sylves- ter .Sembratovilch, Mclropiililan of Lembcrg, praying that a Greek Calliolic piir-Nl might be sent to them to found a parish of (he (ircck Kite at that place. The petitioners promised to build a church for him if he were sent. In the following year (1885) Rev. Ivan Vohinski. of the Diocese of Lemberg, arrived in the United States, the first Greek Catholic priest to take up work among his people here. On his arrival he presented himself in Philadelphia with his letters, but, being a married priest, he encountered great difficulty in beuig recognized as a Catholic priest in good stand- ing. However, he proceeded to Shenandoah, where under great difficulties and discouragements he organ- ized his congregation and for about a year celebrated Mass and other services in a hired hall, for he was unable to obtain the use of the local Latin churches for Greek services. The matter of his regularity and his accept- ance as a priest in Pennsylvania for the Ruthenians was finally arranged through Cardinal Sembratovitch. Early in 1886 he completed at Shenandoah a little frame church dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel, the first Greek Catholic church in America. He then organized there the first Greek Catholic Society, that of St. Nicholas, built and organized a small parochial school, and then proceeded to form congregations and to found churches in other places where the Rutheni- ans were thickly settled. Duringhis stay he organized congregations and started churches atHazleton (1887), Kingston (1888), and Olyphant (1888) in Pennsyl- vania, at Jersey City, New Jersey (1889), and at Min- neapolis, Minnesota (1889). Finding his Ruthenian people without any reading-matter in their own lan- guage, he sent to Galicia for Russian type, and in the latter part of 1886 he obtained a few fonts from the Shevchenko printing office at Lemberg. He then commenced the publication in "phonetic" Ruthenian of a small paper Lssued every two weeks at Shenan- doah under the name of "America". This paper lived until about 1890, but got involved in the labour troubles in the mining districts which destroyed much of its usefulness. In the spring of 1887 the Metropoli- tan of Lemberg sent him another priest, Rev. Zeno Lakovitch (unmarried), and a lay teacher, Volodimir Semenovitch from the University of Lemberg. Father Lakovitch laboured at Kingston and at Wilkesbarre, where he died a year later. In 1888 Rev. Constantino Andrukovitch was sent from Lemberg, and, in addition to his parochial work, he, with Father Volanski, under- took to establish a series of stores in several towns in Pennsylvania to sell goods to the Ruthenians and thus avoid the enormous prices which the mining com- panies charged them. The business venture was un- successful, and, with other matters, it caused the recall of Father Volanski to GaUcia. He remained there some time, then was sent as a missionary to Brazil, where his wife died, when he returned to Galicia, where he was a parish priest imtil his death in 1905. This business venture also caused the suspension of Father Andrukovitch, who retm-ned to Galicia in 1892. The next three Greek clergymen were Rev. Theophan Obushkevitch (of Galicia), Rev. Cornehus Laurisin, and Rev. Augustin Laurisin (of Hungary), who took up their missionary work energetically. The first two are still Greek Catholic parish priests in this country. Since their coming there has been a constant accession of Ruthenian Greek priests from Galicia and Hungary, and the building of churches and schools has gone on with increasing success. Even quite costly churches have been built. In Jersey City the old church has given way to a fine stone and brick church, which is an excellent specimen of Russian architecture, while at Homestead and Shamokin, Pennsylvania, there are quite costl}' churches erected. Many of the Greek churches are purchases from Protestant denominations