Vice-Province of Saints Cyril and Methodius
The work of the Missionaries of St Vincent de Paul in Eastern Europe dates back to 1651, when the Congregation’s founder, St Vincent de Paul, was still alive. Initially, the priests worked in Poland. Gradually, their work grew and spread further east. At that time, they directed the seminary in Vilnius, and new mission centres were established in Belarus, Ukraine and russia.
After the revolution of 1917, the missionaries were forced to leave the places where they had exercised their pastoral ministry. During the communist era, priests were not allowed to work freely in the former USSR. Perestroika in the late 1980s brought a period of relative religious freedom.
Priests of the Congregation returned to work in the East from the Polish, Slovak and Slovenian Provinces. Today, they serve in Ukraine, Belarus and russia.
By a decision of the Superior General, the Vice-Province of Saints Cyril and Methodius was established in these countries on 1 January 2001. It comprises six missionary communities.
Priests from the Polish, Slovak, Irish and Slovenian Provinces serve here alongside several local priests.
The central house and provincial administration are in Kyiv. A major seminary also operates here, and a parish is planned for the future. There are two parishes in western Ukraine: in Storozhynets in Bukovyna and in Perechyn in Transcarpathia. Four priests work in the Perechyn community, serving the faithful in six settlements. Our confrère Bishop Milan Šašik CM serves in Transcarpathia as Apostolic Administrator of the Eparchy of Mukachevo. In Storozhynets, Bukovyna, two priests and one deacon serve the faithful in several settlements. In eastern Ukraine, the Kharkiv community has three priests and one deacon. Another community of our province is in Nizhny Tagil, in the Urals in russia. Its three priests also serve two Catholic communities in Severouralsk and Krasnoturinsk. Five priests work in Belarus: four in parishes and one teaching at the major seminary in Grodno.
The Kyiv community has three priests and four seminarians. One confrère from the Austrian Province teaches philosophy at the major seminary of the Diocese of Kyiv-Zhytomyr in Vorzel.