Metropolitan Bohdan (Shpylka)

Metropolitan Bohdan/Theodosius(Shpylka) (1892-1965)

Bohdan may be spelt Bogdan, Theodore, Teodor, Todor, Tudor, Feodor.

Shpylka may be spelt Shpilka, Spylka.

Theodosius may be spelt Teodosiy, Feodosiy, Theodosios.

Early life of Teodor Ivanovich Shpylka

On 8 March, 1892, Teodor Ivanovich Shpylka was born in the village of Dmitrovichi in the Lviv County (now Mostissky county) of the Lviv Voivodeship within the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Teodor Ivanovich was the second son of Ivan and Ekaterina Shpilek, who were rural nobles. The parents tried to give their sons a higher education.

Following his older brother, Teodor went to the Ukrainian "gymnasium" in Przemysl, from which he graduated in 1913.

Higher education

In 1913, Teodor began to study theology in Stanislav. He furthered his studies in Graz, in south-eastern Austria. and he completed his studies in 1917. In that year, he graduated from the Theological Faculty of Lviv University.

By this time, World War I was nearing its end ; the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 had occurred in Russia ; the political situation of the Lviv region had already changed greatly, and it continued to change.

Political activities, 1917-1919

Having participated in the Ukrainian movement in the Lemkiv region (which included the Lemko-Rusyn Republic and the Komancza Republic), he was especially active in organising the Defence Committee of the region in the Sanok and Rimanov counties. After the proclamation of the West Ukrainian National Republic (ZUNR), Teodor Shpylka worked in the supply department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

After the defeat of the West Ukrainian National Republic, most of its territory was included in Poland in July, 1919.

At that time, Panteleimon Shpylka, a Ukrainian Catholic priest, was briefly the leader of the “Komancza Republic”, a distinct Lemko entity which had planned to unite with the West Ukrainian People's Republic in an independent Ukrainian state. However, both entities were suppressed after absorption into the Polish State.

Further study, 1919

In 1919, after the changes in government, Teodor left for Vienna, Austria, where he entered the “Export Academy” (The Vienna University of Economics and Business).

During his studies, he served as the chairman of the Society of Ukrainian Students at the Export Academy.

Prague, Transcarpathia, 1923

After graduating from the academy in 1923, he left for Prague, Czechoslovakia, where he entered the Faculty of Law at the Ukrainian Free University there.

Although it is not explicitly so stated in his biography, the nature of his living circumstances, and the nature of his education strongly suggest that Teodor Shpylka had been raised either as a Roman Catholic, or as a Ukrainian Catholic.

While he was in Prague, he came to meet Archbishop Sabbaty (Vrabets), who had previously been an archimandrite and teacher in the Eastern Poland and Western Ukraine regions, at Kholm and Volyn). It was at this particular time that, in the midst of tensions between the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Church of Constantinople, the Czechoslovakian Orthodox Church was developing, and many people were being received into the Orthodox Christian Faith. It is likely that Teodor Shpylka was amongst those who were received.

After Teodor had graduated and qualified as a lawyer, Teodor travelled eastwards to the Trans-Carpathian region, where he was engaged in paedagogical work for a time.

Diaconal, priestly ordinations

At some time in Prague, Teodor Shpylka was ordained to the Holy Diaconate, and then to the Holy Priesthood by Archbishop Sabbaty (Vrabets), of Prague and All Czechoslovakia, who was under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Invitation, move to North America, 1936

On 15 May, 1936, Priest Teodor Shpylka accepted an offer to become a bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America, which had lost its episcopal leadership as a consequence of the repose in Christ of Bishop Joseph (Zhuk) in 1934.

On 8 December, 1936, he moved to the USA, where he was admitted to the jurisdiction of the American Archdiocese of the Patriarchate of Constantinople by Archbishop Athenagoras (Spyrou).

Monastic tonsure, 1936

On 17 December, 1936, Priest Teodor Shpylka was tonsured to be a monk, and he was given the name Theodosius (but in Ukrainian, Bohdan).

Hieromonk Bohdan (Shpylka) was immediately elevated to the dignity of archimandrite.

Episcopal ordination, 1937

On 28 February, 1937, in Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in New York City, Archimandrite Bohdan (Shpylka) was ordained to the Holy Episcopate by Archbishop Athenagoras (Spyrou) of New York, and Bishop Kallistos (Papageorgopoulos) of San Francisco.

Bishop Bohdan (Shpylka)

Episcopal service

Bishop Bohdan (Shpylka) was ordained as Titular Bishop of Eukarpia.

He was assigned to serve as Vicar-Bishop of the administration of the Ukrainian parishes of the North American Archdiocese of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Ukrainian parishes, being a vicariate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, were likewise a part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and it was during this time that they acquired a more clearly diocesan structure.

At that time, Bishop Bohdan (Shpylka) led approximately 45 parishes and missions. Of these parishes some were in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, Canada.

The cathedral parish of Bishop Bohdan (Shpylka) was at Saint Mary's Cathedral in The Bronx, (one of the boroughs of New York City).

He had some initial success in attracting parishes from the non-canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA. This was primarily because his views were more moderate than those of Metropolitan John (Theodorovych) who led the other (at that time non-canonical) Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA.

He had some success in attracting some North Americans into the Orthodox Christian Faith, and he ordained more than 12 men to the Holy Priesthood. However, most lacked a theological education, and they were largely unreliable persons. A notable exception was that of Priestmonk Dmitry (Royster).

In 1943, Bishop Bohdan participated in a meeting of the “Federated Orthodox Greek Catholic Primary Jurisdictions” (FOGCPJ) with regard to the possibility of establishing a national "pan-Orthodox" organisation. Ultimately, the fruit of the meeting was the establishment in 1960 of the "Standing Committee of Orthodox Bishops in America" (SCOBA),

Bishop Bohdan (Shpylka) was the author of an Orthodox Christian catechism in the Ukrainian language.

Bishop Bohdan (Shpylka) published the magazine “Ukrainian Bulletin”.

In the late 1950s, in advance of the 1960 establishment of the "Standing Committee of Orthodox Bishops in the Americas", there was another meeting of the "Federated Orthodox Greek Catholic Primary Jurisdictions".

Meeting of the Federated Orthodox Greek Catholic Primary Jurisdictions

Of the 12 persons pictured, some are at present identified : 1. Bishop Germanos (Polyzoides) of Nyssa, Greek Archdiocese ; 2. Priest George Grabbe, ROCOR Chancellor ; 5. Bishop Demetrios (Makris) of Olympus, Greek Archdiocese Chancellor ; 6. Metropolitan Antony (Bashir), Antiochian Archdiocese ; 7. Archbishop Michael (Konstantinides), Greek Archdiocese ; 8. Metropolitan Leonty (Turkevich), Russian Metropolia ; 9. Bishop Bohdan (Shpylka), Ukrainian Archdiocese.

After 1957, the activity of Bishop Bohdan began slowly to decrease, partly because of age, and partly because of the development of an illness.

In 1958, Bishop Bohdan (Shpylka) was elevated to the dignity of Titular Metropolitan of Eukarpia.

On 17 July, 1959, Metropolitan Bohdan (Shpylka) arrived in Lansing, Michigan. He had flown there after pastoral visiting in Manitoba.

He was to attend the sixth annual Eastern Orthodox Catechetical Conference, which took place 20-25 July, 1959, at the Kellogg Centre. On 19 July, he served the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy in Saint Andrew's Orthodox Church in East Lansing, where he ordained a subdeacon. Vladyka Bohdan had strongly encouraged Father Photius Donahue to establish this community in 1952.

The Catechetical Conference was sponsored jointly by the Eastern Orthodox Catechetical Association and the committee of church-related conferences of Michigan State University (MSU), and about 100 clergy, catechists and religious education specialists participated. Mostly from the eastern and mid-western states of the USA, the participants included members of various Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Albanian, Bulgarian, Syrian and Macedonian parishes. The daily schedule included the celebration of the Divine Liturgy in the early morning. Then followed lectures by priests, lay teachers and MSU faculty members. Lectures about Orthodox Christian Theology and about Church History were given by Archpriest Vladimir Lilikovich (of Saints Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church, Detroit) ; Archpriest Feodor Kovalchuk (of Nativity of Christ Russian Orthodox Church, Youngstown, Ohio) ; Archpriest William Olynyk (of Saints Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Youngstown, Ohio) ; Archpriest John W Govrusik (of Saint John the Divine Russian Orthodox Church, Monessen, Pennsylvania) ; Archpriest George Nedelkoff (of Saint Nicholas Macedonian-Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana) ; Archpriest Francis (Photius) Donahue (associate professor in the department of religion at MSU, and chaplain of the Eastern Orthodox students at the university). Mrs. Sophie Koulomzin (secretary of the Orthodox Education Committee of New York city) delivered several lectures. Along with MSU faculty members, she also led seminars and workshops. Included in the overall programme was Princess Ileana of Romania (who became Abbess Alexandra of Holy Transfiguration Monastery at Ellwood City, Pennsylvania), who also addressed the conference, as she had the previous year.

Metropolitan Bohdan (Shpylka) at Lansing, Michigan, 1959

Somewhat later, in part because of Bishop Bohdan's increasing fragility, in part because of various tensions, some of his parishes were lost to the other Ukrainian jurisdiction.

In 1965, Metropolitan Bohdan travelled to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in order to visit some of his relatives : his brother George V Shpilka, his nephew Dmytro Shpilka, and his niece Yaroslava Soroczynska. It was in the course of this visit that he came to the end of his days.

Metropolitan Bohdan (Shpylka)

Repose, 1965

On Monday, 1 November, 1965, Metropolitan Bohdan/Theodosius (Shpylka) fell asleep in the Lord in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, at the home of his brother Dr. George Shpilka.

Although his family wished to have the funeral and interment in Ottawa, this was not blessed. It was required that his body be sent to New York for the funeral services and interment. In Ottawa, there was first a memorial service offered for Metropolitan Bohdan (Shpylka) at the Hulse and Playfair Funeral Home, after which his body was transferred to the Dormition Ukrainian Orthodox Temple where people could pay their respects, and other panikhidas (memorial services) were served.

Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral, Ottawa, Ontario

The body of Metropolitan Bohdan (Shpylka) was then transferred to New York City.

On Tuesday, 9 November, 1965, at 9:00 a.m., a Memorial Divine Liturgy was served at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral by Archbishop Iakovos (Coucouzis) and bishops, clergy and Faithful of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the USA. Immediately afterwards, the Funeral Service for the Burial of a Hierarch was served, led by the same bishops and clergy.

After the conclusion of the funeral services, the body of Metropolitan Bohdan (Shpylka) was interred in the Saint Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery at South Bound Brook, New Jersey.

Saint Andrew Memorial Church, South Bound Brook Ukrainian Cemetery

– Bishop of Eukarpia and the Ukrainian Diocese 1937-1958. Preceded by : Bishop Joseph (Zhuk).

– Metropolitan of Eukarpia and the Ukrainian Diocese 1958-1965. Succeeded by : Metropolitan Andrei (Kuschak).

Reflections

Archimandrite Seraphim (Surrency) wrote :

 Bishop Bohdan, with what backing the Greeks could give him, which was mostly moral and very little
 financial, continued to give some competition to the organization of Teodorovich, now commonly called
 the 'Ukrainian Metropolia' but it was a losing battle.  In addition to the administrative ineptitude 
 of Bishop Bohdan, his very moderation in matters Ukrainian seemed to work against him.  Bishop 
 Bohdan did succeed in attracting some Americans who were interested in Orthodoxy and mostly in 
 ordination.  Bishop Bohdan ordained over a dozen native converts to the Orthodox priesthood 
 without requiring any theological education and as might be expected the results were disastrous 
 (an exception was Fr. Dimitry Royster who later transferred his allegiance to the Russian Metropolia 
 and was consecrated Bishop in 1969).

References

Ukrainian Wikipedia biography

Encyclopedia of Ukraine biography

Orthodox Archdiocese of Belgium biography

Drevo Encyclopedia biography

Russian Wikipedia biography

Additional information :

Archdiocese of Canada — Orthodox Church in America, “The Orthodox Church in Canada : A Chronology” (Ottawa : Archdiocese of Canada, 1988).

FitzGerald, Thomas E, 'Early Diocesan Developments' in "The Orthodox Church Denominations in America" (Westport, CT : Praeger, 1998). ISBN 10 : 0275964388 ; ISBN 13 : 9780275964382.

...... 'Proposals for Jurisdictional Cooperation' in "The Orthodox Church Denominations in America".

Hewlett, Deacon Edward, “The Formation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada”.

(Lemeshevsky), Metropolitan Manuel, "Russian Orthodox Hierarchs of the Period 1893-1965”, biographical reference book in 6 vols., (Erlangen, Germany, 1984).

(Surrency), Archimandrite Seraphim, “The Quest for Orthodox Church Unity in America : A History of the Orthodox Church in North America in the Twentieth Century” (New York : Saints Boris and Gleb Press, 1973).

Tarasar, Constance J, ed., "Orthodox America 1794-1976 : Development of The Orthodox Church in America" (Syosset, NY : The Orthodox Church in America Department of History and Archives, 1975). ASIN : B000ZLZAUE.

The obituary of Metropolitan Bohdan (Shpylka) was published on Monday, 8 November, 1965 in the New York “Daily News”, p. 136.

‘Orthodox Primate here to participate in Conference’ in “Lansing State Journal” (18 July, 1959)

“Ukrainian Daily”, vol. 45, no. 44 (Jersey City, NJ, 24 February, 1937). (in Ukrainian)

Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA History

Encyclopedia of Ukraine article about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of America

Orthodoxwiki article about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA

Patriarch Benjamin I (Psomas)

Patriarch Athenagoras (Spyrou)

Bishop Joseph (Zhuk)

Metropolitan Andrei (Kuschak)

Metropolitan John (Theodorovych)

Wikipedia article about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA