The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate began working in Ukraine in autumn 1989 at the invitation of the parish priest of Bar, Canon Bronislav Bernatskyi, now Bishop of the Diocese of Odesa-Simferopol. The first priests to arrive from Poland were Fr Krzysztof Borodziej OMI and Fr Jacek Pyl OMI. In 1990, they moved to Zhmerynka, where they assisted the parish priest, Fr Mykola Hutsal, with pastoral work for a year. That same year, they began visiting St Joseph’s Parish in Hnivan and assumed permanent responsibility for it in 1991. In 1991, the priests established the first Oblate house in Ukraine there. That autumn, Fr K. Borodziej went to Kyiv to undertake pastoral work at St Nicholas’s Parish. Fr J. Pyl began restoring the damaged neo-Gothic church in Hnivan, which celebrated the centenary of its consecration on 14 September 2006. The Oblates subsequently established houses and began pastoral work in Chernihiv in 1994 and Slavutych in 1996.
The OMI Delegation Today
Today, the Delegation of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate has eight religious houses, 26 priests, two brothers, three seminarians and five pre-novices. From the outset, the Missionary Oblates’ work in Ukraine has developed along several lines:
– traditional pastoral ministry: caring for existing parishes; catechesis for adults, young people and children; parish missions and retreats.
– evangelisation: establishing new parishes and parish groups; summer camps for children and young people; evangelisation retreats; media and publishing work; prison ministry.
– charitable work: visiting the sick; providing medical assistance and clothing for people in need; arranging holidays in Ukraine and abroad for children from the Chornobyl area.
– building new churches, chapels, parish houses and pastoral centres in Hnivan, Sutysky, Obukhiv, Chernihiv, Slavutych, Poltava, Kryvyi Rih, Shchors, Nizhyn and Yevpatoriia.
Each community of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Ukraine serves several parishes. The dates in brackets indicate when the Oblates began working in each parish:
1. In the Diocese of Kamianets-Podilskyi:
– St Joseph’s Parish in Hnivan (1990),
– St Michael the Archangel’s Parish in Tyvriv (1994),
– Divine Mercy Parish in Sutysky (1997).
2. In the Diocese of Kyiv-Zhytomyr:
– St Nicholas’s Parish in Kyiv (1991),
– Holy Spirit Parish in Chernihiv (1993),
– Holy Trinity Parish in Obukhiv (1996),
– Holy Guardian Angels and St Eugene de Mazenod Parish in Slavutych (1996),
– Saints Peter and Paul the Apostles Parish in Nizhyn (1999),
– Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Pryluky (2002),
– Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Shchors (2003).
3. In the Diocese of Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia:
– Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Kryvyi Rih (1998),
– Exaltation of the Holy Cross Parish in Poltava (2002),
– Divine Mercy Parish in Myrhorod (2002),
– St Michael the Archangel’s Parish in Lubny (2002).
4. In the Diocese of Odesa-Simferopol:
– St Martin’s Parish in Yevpatoriia (1999),
– Divine Mercy Parish in Bratskoie (2001).
Contact details:
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
22 A Kashtanova Street
Kyiv Region
Obukhiv 08 704
Tel. (044 72) 71 948
del@omi.obukhov.net
Source: http://www.omi.org.ua/