Historical Timeline

of the Basilian Order

of St. Josaphat

329-379

• St. Basil the Great
  Basil's Rule of life inspires many monastic communities
  

988

• Baptism of Kyivan Rus' by St. Volodymyr the Great
  

1595-96 The Union of Brest

• The hierarchy of the Church of Kyivan-Rus enters into full and formal union with the Roman Church
  

1604

• St. Josaphat Kuntsevych enters the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, in Vilnius, Lithuania
  

1614

• St. Josaphat becomes Archimandrite of the Holy Trinity Monastery
  

1617

• August 20: Monastic Chapter in Novohorodovychi
  5 monasteries unite to form the Province of the Most Holy Trinity of the Order of St. Basil the Great

• Metropolitan Joseph Rutsky becomes first Protoarchimandrite— General Superior of the Order

• November 12: St. Josaphat is ordained bishop
  

1623

• November 12: Martyrdom of St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, OSBM, Archbishop of Polotsk-Vitebsk
  

1640

• Basilian Procurator for the Kyivan Metropolitan is installed at the Church of Sts. Sergius & Bacchus in Rome
  

1643

• May 16: Beatification of Josaphat Kuntsevych, OSBM
• Prince Leo Casimir Sapieha places the relics in a solid-silver casket
  

1692

• The Eparchy of Peremysl enters into full union with the Roman Church
  

1700

• The Eparchy of Lviv enters into full union with the Roman Church
  

1702

• The Eparchy of Lutsk enters into full union with the Roman Church
  

1706

• Prince Carol Radzwill installs the relics of St. Josaphat in his castle at Bila Pidlaska
  

1712

• The Monastery of Pochaiv enters into full union with the Roman Church and joins the Basilian Order

• Count Stefan Potocki founds the Basilian monastery in Buchach
  

1721

• The Monastery of Krekhiv enters into full union with the Roman Church and joins the Basilian Order
  

1730

• Pope Benedict XIII has the miraculous icon of our Lady of Zhurovytski crowned
  

1739

• August 26: Monastic Chapter at St. George's, Lviv
  Monasteries from Xolm, Volhynia and Galicia form the Province of the Protection of the Mother of God.
  

1743

• May 26: General Monastic Chapter in Dubno
  The Provinces of the Holy Trinity and the Protection of the Mother of God unite to form one Basilian Order

• Construction of the new St. George's Cathedral in Lviv and Basilian Monastery
  

1763

• Count Stefan Potocki founds the Basilian monastery in Krystynopol
  

1712

• The relics of St. Josaphat are transferred from the castle to the Basilian church in Bila Pidlaska
  

1772

• First partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Galicia becomes part of the Austrian Empire

• Count Nicholas Potocki builds the Dormition church at the Basilian monastery in Pochaiv
  

1773

• Austrian Empress Maria Theresia forbids the term 'uniate' and gives our Church the name Greek Catholic
  

1774

• Austrian Empress Maria Theresia founds the Barbareum college for Greek Catholic seminarians
  

1779

• Basilians leave St. George's Cathedral in Lviv
  

1780

• September 17: General Chapter in Torkaniv
  Divides the Basilian Order into four Provinces:
  • Holy Trinity Province for Lithuania (to 1804)
  • St. Nicholas Province for Belarus(to 1802)
  • Protection Province for Poland (to 1864)
  • Holy Saviour Province for Galicia
    

1782

• Austrian Emperor Joseph II begins to the suppression of many monasteries and removes their privileges
  

1795-1796

• The Russian Empire liquidates the Uniate Church and Basilian monasteries in the eparchies of Kyiv, Lutsk, Volodymyr and Kamianets
  

1802

• Provincial Chapter at Torokansk
  The Province of St. Nicholas is suppressed

• Father Justus Husanovsky is last Protoarchimandrite elected by the Basilians, until 1953

• Joseph II's successor, Emperor Francis II (I) restores to the religious orders their rights and privileges
  

1804

• May 5: Suppression of the Province of the Holy Trinity

• Russia abolishes the Basilian office of Protoarchimandrite
  

1807

• The Metropolia of Galicia is restored (Lviv, Austria)
  

1831

• Russia suppresses the Basilians at Pochaiv monastery and confiscates the Basilians' schools
  

1832

• Russia abolishes the Basilian Order in her territories
  

1839

• Death of the last Uniate Kyivan Metropolitan in Russia

• Russia liquidates the Uniate Church in Belarus and Lithuania
  

1864

• Russia suppresses Province of the Protection of the Mother of God in the Cholm eparchy
  

1867

• June 29: 1800th anniversary of the death of St. Peter,
  Blessed Pope Pius IX canonizes St. Josaphat Kuntsevych
  

1875

• Russia violently suppresses the Greek Catholic eparchy of Cholm, Poland

• The last Basilian monastery in Russian territory is closed in Warsaw
  

1880

• The Apostolic See secretly sends Polish Jesuits to minister to the Greek Catholic faithful in the Cholm region, and to report on the situation. Jesuit Provincial Superior recommends restoration of the Basilian Order
  

1882

• Dobromyl Reform
  By his decree (Bull) Singularis Praesidium, Pope Leo XIII innaugurates the reform of the Basilian Order in Galicia
  

1888

• Count Roman Sheptytsky enters the Basilian Order. he takes the monastic name Andrei
  

1899,1900

• Basilian Father Andrei Sheptytsky is appointed Bishop of Stanislaviv Eparchy and subsequently Metropolitan Archbishop of Lviv
  

1897

• Basilians missionaries are sent to Brazil
  

1902

• Basilians begin their mission in Canada
  

1904

• End of the Dobromyl Reform
  Jesuits hand-over the governing of the Order to Basilians Father Platonides Filas is elected Protohegumen

• Basilians are entrusted with the direction of the Pontifical Ruthenian College, in Rome
  

1906

• General Chapter, Lavriv
  First General Chapter of the Reformed Basilians
  New Constitutions are approved
  

1907

• Basilian Father Soter Ortynsky is named Greek Catholic bishop for the U.S.A.
  

1916

• Re-discovery of the relics of St. Josaphat Kuntsevych and their secret re-location to Vienna, Austria

• Basilian Father Josaphat Kotsylovsky is appointed bishop of Peremysl eparchy

• Untimely death of Bishop Soter Ortynsky, OSBM
  

1920

• Reform of the Basilian Monasteries of the St. Nicholas Province, Subcarpathia

• Father Anastasius Kalysh is elected Protohegumen of the Holy Saviour Province — Superior General
  

1923

Worldwide celebrations in honour of the 300th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Josaphat

• November 12: Pope Pius XI issues and Encyclical Letter about St. Josaphat, entitled 'The Church of God'
• December: his relics are exposed for veneration at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna
  

1924

• First volume of the historical journal Analecta OSBM
  

1927

March: Basilian Father Paul Gojdyc is named auxillary bishop for Greek Catholics in Slovakia

1929

• Basilian Father Basil Ladyka is appointed bishop for Greek Catholics in Canada
  

1931

• General Chapter in Dobromyl
  The Reformed Basilians are divided into 4 Provinces:
  • Holy Saviour Province for Galicia (Poland)
  • St. Nicholas Province for Subcarpathia (Czechoslov.)
  • Sacred Heart Province for Canada and the U.S.A.
  • St. Joseph Vice-Province for Brazil
• Father Dionysius Tkachuk is elected Archimandrite— Superior General
  

1932

• The General Council (Curia) of the Order moves to Rome, Italy
• The official name of the Order is changed to Basilian Order of St. Josaphat

• Basilians begin mission work in the U.S.A.
  

1934

• Basilians begin mission work in Argentina
  

1939

• First Soviet occupation of Galicia
  

1941

• Martyrdom of Blessed Severian Baranyk, OSBM
• Martyrdom of Blessed Yakym Senkivsky, OSBM
  

1942

• Basilian Father Ambrose Synyshynis is named auxillary bishop for Greek Catholics in the U.S.A.
  

1943

• Basilian Father Neil Savaryn is named auxillary bishop for Greek Catholics in the Canada
  

1944

• January 26: Basilian Superior General Archimandrite Dionysius Tkachuk dies in Rome. Father Dionysius Holovetsky is appointed interim Vicar General ,1944-1946

• Second Soviet occupation of Galicia
  Confiscation of Basilian monasteries

• November 1: Death of Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky
  

1945

• December 23: During the Soviet campaign to liquidate the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Pope Pius XII issues an eloquent encyclical letter, Orientales Omnes Ecclesias, defending it

1946

• Father Hlib Kinach is appointed interim Vicar General of the Order, 1946-1949
• Psuedo-synod of Lviv
  Liquidation of the Greek Catholic Church in Galicia
• Martyrdom of Blessed Vitali Bayrak, OSBM
  

1947

• The St. Nicholas Province is divided into:
  • Province of St. Nicholas for Subcarpathian Ukraine
  • Province of Sts.Cyril & Methodius for Czechoslovakia
  • Province of the St. Stephen for Hungary
  • Province of St. Joseph for Romania
    
• Martyrdom of Blessed Bishop Josaphat Kotskylovsky, OSBM
  

1948

• Provincial Chapter in Mundare, Alberta
  The American-Canadian Province is divided into:
  • Province of the Sacred Heart for Canada
  • Province of the Dormition for the U.S.A.
• The Vice-Province of St. Joseph in Brazil is raised to the status of a full Province
  

1949

• Election of Father Theodosius Haluschynsky as Archimandrite— Superior General

• Father Athanasius Welykyj revives Analecta OSBM

• The relics of St. Josaphat are secretly moved from Soviet-occupied Vienna to Rome
  

1953

• Election of Father Paul Myskiw as Superior General
  He re-assumes the ancient title of Protoarchimandrite
  

1955

• Basilian Constitutions are approved by the Apostolic See
  

1958

• Basilian Father Joseph Martynets is appointed bishop for Ukrainian Greek Catholics in Brazil
  

1960

• Saintly death of Bishop Paul Gojdyc, OSBM
• The Basilian General Curia, in Rome, is transferred to the Aventine. Its address is later re-named "Via San Giosafat" — St. Josaphat Street
  

1961

• Basilian Father Augustine Hornyak is appointed bishop for the Ukrainian Catholics of Great Britain
  

1962-1965 The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council

1963

• Election of Father Athanasius Welykyj as Protoarchimandrite — Superior General

• November 25: Pope Paul VI installs the relics of St. Josaphat in St. Peter's Basilica, under the altar of St. Basil
  

1964

• The Vice-Province of the Immaculate Conception for Argentina is established
  

1969

• Extraordinary General Chapter of reform, Rome, Italy
  

1972

• Basilian Father Ephrem Krevey is appointed auxillary bishop for Ukrainian Catholics in Brazil
  

1973

• 350th Anniversary of St. Josaphat's martyrdom
  

1974

• Basilian Father Jerome Chimy is appointed bishop of the eparchy of New Westminster, B.C., Canada
  

1976

• Election of Father Isidore Patrylo as Protoarchimandrite — Superior General
  

1981

• Basilian Father Innocent Lototsky is appointed bishop of the Eparchy of Chicago, U.S.A.
  

1982

400th Anniversary of the birth of St. Josaphat

• July 17: St. Josaphat's relics are clothed in new vestments and a bronze mask, donated by the Canadian Province

• Vice-Province of the Protection of the Mother of God is established in Poland

• Basilian Father Myron Daciuk is appointed auxillary bishop of the Archeparchy of Winnipeg
  

1988

• Celebration of the Millennium of Ukrainian Christianity
  

1990-91

• The Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine re-emerges from the catacombs.
• Basilian monasteries are returned to the Order. Basilian Provinces in Ukraine, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania are restored
  

1991

• August 24: Fall of the Soviet regime. Ukraine becomes independent
  

1995

• Basilian Father Severian Yakymyshyn is appointed bishop of the eparchy of New Westminster, Canada
• November 12: On the feast of St. Josaphat, Pope John Paul II issues an Apostolic letter, commemorating the 400th Anniversary of the Union of Brest

• Basilian Father Cornelius Pasichny is appointed bishop of the eparchy of Saskatoon, Canada
  

1996

• July 19: Election of Father Dionysius Lachowicz as Protoarchimandrite — Superior General

• 400th Anniversary celebrations of the Union of Brest
  

1997

• Centennial of the Basilians in Brazil

• Basilian Father Lawrence Huculak is appointed bishop of the eparchy of Edmonton, Canada
  

2001

• June 27: John Paul II is the first Pope to visit Ukraine.
  In Lviv, he beatifies 28 Ukrainian martyrs, including 4 Basilians: Josaphat Kotsykovsky, Severian Baranyk, Yakym Senkivsky and Vitali Bayrak.
• November 4: Pope John Paul beatifies Basilian martyr Pavel Gojdic, bishop of Pryjashevo (Preshov), Slovakia

2002

• Basilian Father Paul Chomnycky is appointed bishop of the Ukrainian Exarchate of Great Britain
  

2002-2003

• Centennial of the Basilians in Canada

2003

• December 10: Basilian Father Volodymyr Koubetch is appointed coadjutor-bishop of the Eparchy of St. John the Baptist for Ukrainian Catholics in Brazil

2004

• July 12: Election of Father Basil Koubetch as Protoarchimandrite — Superior General, at the First Session of the Basilian General Chapter
• December 21: Former Protoarchimandrite Dionysius Lachovicz is named Curial Bishop of the Major Archbishopbric of Kyiv-Halyc, Ukraine.
• December 21: Provincial Superior of Brazil, Father Myron Mazur is appointed auxillary-bishop of the Eparchy of St. John the Baptist for Ukrainian Catholics in Brazil

2006

• July 1: Second Session of the 2004/2006 General Chapter

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