The 130th anniversary of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Byzantine Catholic Church in Trenton’s south ward provides an opportunity to see Trenton as an internationally connected city — one where people still come to find freedoms, safety, and opportunities.
That includes the church’s pastor, Yuriy Oros, who during a question and answer session shared some highlights of his personal journey from Ukraine to New Jersey as well as being a married priest while maintaining full Communion with Roman Catholic Church.
How did you come to Trenton?
“When I was studying in Rome, I had the opportunity to travel to the United States to get acquainted with the life of our church in the United States. Subsequently I received an invitation from the local bishop, Kurt Burnette (Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic) to come to the U.S. for service.
We moved with my family to the United States on September 21, 2017. And I was appointed as a Parochial Vicar for St. Mary on September 25, 2017. Later on March 21, 2018, I was appointed as Parochial Administrator at St. Mary in Trenton and St. Nicholas in Roebling.
I know there are a lot of Ukrainian immigrants in the Trenton area, but the majority of them immigrated at the beginning of 2000, some parts after Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004 and some of them after Revolution of Dignity in 2014.
When Ukrainians move somewhere they remain very connected to their culture, language, and traditions, which is I think very important. And usually they are joining a Ukrainian Byzantine Church, which is in our case St. Josaphat Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic Church in Trenton.
Our parish is more integrated to American culture and mentality. We pray our Liturgy in English; almost nobody speaks their ancestral language.
What about your personal and academic background?
I was born on June 18, 1984, in the town of Tyachiv, in the Transcarpathian region of Ukraine. My father, Yuriy, was a military man so he was often away from the day-to-day rhythm of our family. Consequently, my mother, Mariya, was the parent who saw to the details of our upbringing.
I grow up in a Byzantine Catholic family. My grandmother, who is still alive, is an especially devout person who prayed a lot all the time for me even when I wasn’t going to church. She planted the seeds of faith in my heart.
When I was 16, I decided to enter the priesthood. At 17, I entered the seminary. In 2007, when I finished my graduate theological studies, my bishop sent me to study in Rome.
I began my studies at the Pontifical Lateran University (Spirituality of the Christian life). After I finished a year of study at the university, my bishop asked me to continue my study at the Pontifical Oriental Institute (Pontifical Gregorian University), where I started my studies in the academic year 2008-’09.
While studying in Rome, I lived at the Pontifical College of Russicum, which is under the tutelage of Jesuit fathers. There I met many interesting people who dedicated their whole lives to serving God, people, and science.
On June 24, 2010, I finished my Litentiate “Summa cum laude,” after which I was awarded the title Litentiate Eastern Ecclesiastical Studies (history department). After obtaining this degree, I decided to continue with further doctoral studies. After writing my thesis and successful defense, on March 21, 2013, I was awarded the title Doctor of Eastern Ecclesiastical Studies (history department).
Also, during the doctoral studies in 2011, I attended the course “Organization and Management in the Third Sector” at Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. In the summer of 2018 I did my clinical pastoral education at Princeton Medical Center.
Would you talk about marriage and the church and your own marriage and family?
My wife, Kateryna Shymoniak, and I were surprised by how welcoming and supportive all our parishioners were. And I notice that they were happy to have a married priest as their pastor.
Because priestly celibacy is a discipline, not a doctrine, in our Byzantine Rite, a candidate to the priesthood could decide before his ordination if he wants to be a married priest or celibate. Married men may become priests, but men who are already priests cannot marry, even if they become widowed. Bishops must be celibate.
We are in a full Communion with the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope of Rome, which means we have mutual sacramental sharing between the Byzantine Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic Church. And usually the pope appoints the bishops for our church.
My wife and I have been married since May, 2013. We met when I was doing research in the Library in the City of Uzhhorod (Ukraine).
She has a doctoral degree in Ukrainian language and literature and did her study at Uzhhorod National University. After she completed her doctoral degree she was a teacher at Linguistic Gymnasium in Uzhhorod as well working as a professor of Ukranian literature at Uzhhorod National University.
Kateryna and I were blessed with the birth of our daughter on January 4, 2017. She is now 4 years old. We named her Marharyta in honor of St. Rita of Cascia (Italy).
My wife fully supports me in my studies and my pastoral duties, which have grown so much since my ordination to the priesthood in August, 2013. Without her full encouragement, I would not have been able to accept the opportunity and challenge of relocating to the United States.
What challenges do you see for the church?
I can say that I spent almost two years, just to understand the dynamic of our Byzantine Catholic Church in the U.S., to understand American culture and mentality, which is very different from Eastern European culture and mentality
I would say first of all it’s formal Christianity, then it’s definitely relativism culture (Pope Benedict XVI said about it: We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one’s own ego and one’s own desires). Consumer Christians go to church to “get something” instead of to give worship to God. We think that Sunday worship is all about us, but it’s really all about God, if we don’t like one church, we go to another. Because of that wrong mentality of Consumer Christians we never really grow spiritually. The heart of religion is worship. The heart of religion is what we give to God, not what we get from God.
The main challenge is the declining of the area (of Trenton). A lot of parishioners left the church, before I came, because of the area and a majority of them feel unsafe when they come to church for Liturgical services.
Our opportunity is to serve and make changes in the life of other people through service and spreading the good news that God is good to all and that the doors of our parish are open to everyone.
Communication allows us to connect and work together as a Christ family where “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).”
I can say that as more people get involved in the Parish life, they got more optimistic with hope for the better future for St. Mary parish. Thanks to social media more people are getting interested in out Byzantine rite. We have some interesting projects that I would like to realize like a genealogy conference and iconographic school, and I believe this will bring more people to know our story and spirituality.
The Greek Catholic service is steeped in Eastern European rituals. What could it offer someone not of the Greek Catholic tradition?
The Word of God is the same for all Christians. Our Byzantine Liturgy is a unique because it places the beauty of the God at the center of our daily life and spiritual experience — it’s heaven on earth, and especially our singing. It’s why we decided to support some music concerts in our church, so people can come and experience the beauty of the Byzantine Rite.
Assumption of the Virgin Mary Byzantine Catholic Church, Grand and Malone streets. Anniversary picnic on Sunday, August 15. For more information, visit www.stmarybyzcatholictrenton.org.
‘Saint Nicholas,’ center, is welcomed by Yuriy Oros, left, and his wife, Kateryna, and daughter, Marharyta, during a holiday event. ,
