Ukrainian church history

Eastern Catholic churches are in full communion with the Pope in Rome but are distinct from the Roman Catholic Churches. Catholics are encouraged to attend church in any of the other rites and receive sacraments there. Because the Eastern and Roman Catholic church are in union with each other, there are similarities such as keeping the seven sacraments and acceptance of the Pope as the head of the church. There are some differences between Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic Churches. There are differences in how they celebrate mass, art, organization and church law. The differences though are not as black and white as they once were and there are variations in different groups of Eastern rite churches. In many Eastern rite churches, married men are allowed to become priests. The sacraments have some differences. Baptism is by immersion rather than sprinkling. An infant receives three sacraments at once--baptism, confirmation and eucharist. The anointing of the sick is not just done to an individual. There are several different rites related to celebrating Mass. The Latin liturgical rites (Roman or Western liturgical rites) would be the one used by Roman Catholic churches. The Eastern churches follow one of several different rites depending on the church and affiliation. The one most familiar to us is probably the Eastern rite (also known as Byzantine rite or the Rite of Constantinople.) The mass is sung and the prayers are different. The history of the Eastern Catholic church involves confusion and conversions for political reasons. Greek Catholicism was more common in Western Ukraine because of mandates of the Polish-Lithuanian state. Orthodoxy was more common in Eastern Ukraine. The Kaszuckis were from Western Ukraine. My description is very minimalist and focused mostly on the time of history of our relatives--not the whole history of the church. I also am trying to tread lightly to not insult anyone or anything unintentionally. For instance, I attended a zoom workshop on Ukrainian church history which was very over my head. I learned that the term “Uniate” is considered insulting to some people who practice according to the Easter rite religion. This term shows up in a lot of the translations I received because it meant that the Eastern church was in Union with the Western Church. Later, some Eastern churches did not appreciate that they were being called by this affiliation Again, I am only scratching the surface in describing the objection. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Catholic_Churches https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/search?q=Uniate (download of pdf from conference https://www.thecompassnews.org/2011/11/do-you-know-differences-between-roman-byzantine-catholic-churches/v retrieved 1/29/2020

Eastern & Roman Rite-how many?

Seven of the eight “branches” of the family of Anthony Raczkiewicz were predominantly Roman Catholic. The exception was the Kaszucki family who originated from Uhnów (Ulanów) which was part of Galicia and now is part of Ukraine. They were Greek Catholic as far back as I could go--to the 1750’s--the 4x great grandparents and the 3x great grandparents. By the 2x great grandparents--Jozef Kaszucki married his second wife Pauline Kurkiewicz, a Roman Catholic. Their daughter Katarzyna Kaszucka (my great grandmother) married John Rackziewicz, a Roman Catholic. In the case of my grandfather’s parents, it appears the family was raised as Roman Catholic even though the mother was Greek Catholic. In other cases, the girls seem to be baptized in the faith of their mother and the boys in the faith of their father. The examples in our family were mostly men who were Greek Catholic marrying Roman Catholic women. Pelagi is mentioned twice in the six examples above but that is because she re-married. While the Kaszuckis were Greek Catholic and married within the faith for the most part for a long time, there are examples of some inter-faith marriages within our family. For example, Marrianna Wiciejewska, 36, (my 4th great aunt) in 1829 married Pawel Szostak,35. He was a shoemaker and a Greek Catholic. Marianna was a widow. The marriage proceeded after the release of 3 banns in Tomaszów churches of both churches; Greek Catholic and Latin rite on Oct 18 & 25 and Nov 1 1829. There were no objections to the marriage. Another example was Mike Liszewski’s 4x great grandparents Szczepan Czarnopyś and Pelagia Romanowicz in 1829. The banns were announced in both the Latin and Eastern rite. In 1837, Mikolaj Romanowicz 28 and Marianna Kurkiewicz, 17 were married. Mikolaj was a widower of the Greek Catholic rite and Marianna’s family was Roman Catholic. Banns were announced in both parishes. In 1853, Andrzej Dzierzbowicz, 43 and Agnes Kurkiewicz, 25 were married. Andrzej was a widower and Greek Uniate. He worked as a mason and his family were shoemakers. Agnieszka’s family was Roman Catholic and they were carpenters. The banns were announced in both parishes Marcin Halkieiwcz, Marcin, 36 Pelagi Czarnopys, 43 were married in 1856. Pelagi was with widow of Szczepan Czarnopys. Marcin was a Petty Officer/Warrant Officer in the Russian Tsarist Army and Roman Catholic. Pelagi’s family were laborers and she was Greek Catholic. Marianna Kurkiewicz (parents: Wojciech and Jozefa nee Wlochowicz, shoemakers) married Bazyli Bzierzbowicz in 1859. Bazyli’s family were masons and practiced the Greek Uniate faith. Marianna’s family were shoemakers and of the Latin faith. Three banns were announced in the Tomaszów Latin faith parish and Tomaszów parish of the Greek Uniate. Verbal permission was given by the parents and there was no objection to the marriage.

Kaszucki Family & the Greek Catholic Church in Uhnów

The Kaszucki family was Greek Catholic and came from Uhnów (Ulanów) which was part of Galicia and now is part of Ukraine. Uhnów had a Roman Catholic and a Ukrainian Greek Catholic (Uniate) church inside the town. There was also an Ukrainian Orthodox parish which was originally in town but because of an earlier struggle with the Greek Catholic Church, it was transferred outside the city walls. By the 18th century, both were Uniate and in 1804, they merged into one parish. It is possible the Kaszucki family went to either the Greek Catholic inside the town or the one that was outside town. https://www.pbase.com/jolka/image/90240216 photo of church https://www.historiaregionu.org/uhnow?lightbox=dataItem-k790fe5b image