Nestor Dmytriw

Nestor Dmytriw (1863 – May 27, 1925) was a Ukrainian Catholic priest, author and translator. Born in Utishkiv, Ukraine, he came to the United States in 1895 shortly after his ordination. In the US, he quickly became involved with missionary work and journalism through the Jersey City, New Jersey paper Svoboda.

Father Nestor Dmytriw

United States

Nestor Dmytriw was one of the so-called American Circle, a group of young seminarians who, while still in Lviv, resolved to emigrate to the United States in order to improve the religious, civic, and cultural status of the Ukrainian immigrants. Dmytriw and Cyril Genik both “shared in Joseph Oleskow’s views on the needs of the peasantry.” [1] “In 1895, after his ordination, Dmytriw himself arrived in the United States, where he combined missionary work among the Ukrainian industrial labourers of Pennsylvania with journalism. He became associated with the first Ukrainian-language newspaper in North America, Svoboda [Liberty], which originated in Jersey City, N.J. The paper, which featured stories about the immigrant experience in the United States and Canada, was widely read in Galicia and thus became the first major link between North America and Austrian Ukraine.” [2]

Canada

In 1897, Dmytriw travelled from the United States to Canada at Joseph Oleskow’s request.[3] Through the Ruthenian National Association, Dmytriw travelled to Canada in April 1897 to serve the spiritual needs of the Ukrainian Canadian settlers. Able to speak Ukrainian, German and English he became an interpreter for Canadian immigration. In Canadian history, Dmytriw's most notable contribution is in writing about the history and tribulations of early Ukrainian settlers.

Missionary Work on the Canadian Prairie

Arriving in Canada, Dmytriw wrote an article in the Winnipeg Free Press defending the Ukrainian immigrants, deflecting a scathing attack on them by another newspaper. Travelling among them as he did, he was able to describe their industriousness and their well-managed homesteads.[4]

Dmytriw’s records showed 15 families, with children, 78 persons, were settled in Terebowla, the oldest Ukrainian settlement in the vicinity of Dauphin in 1897. In Winnipeg, the population was 200, some spending their winter in the Immigration Hall, waiting to leave for their homesteads in spring, while others had decided to stay in the city and were looking for employment[5] Dmytriw was the first priest who started organizing Ukrainian religious groups.[6]

While in Alberta in 1897, Dmytriw was informed by Bishop Legal that, “It would be impossible to have two Catholic churches in Canada.” Dmytriw advised the Ukrainian immigrants to be wary of the French clergy, when Legal “secured land for the Ukrainian Catholic church in Edna-Star, then tried to have it registered with his episcopal corporation without consulting the settlers.” [7]

Living in Canada, Dmytriw worked at the immigration bureau in Winnipeg. This helped him in his religious field, giving him the funds to travel throughout the western provinces. The Ukrainian settlers were poor and could not help him.[8]

Departure

Dmytriw was only in Canada until August 1898, but as the first Ukrainian priest in Canada he organized the first Ukrainian parishes in Terebowla, Manitoba, Stuartburn, Manitoba and Edna, Alberta and was an advocate of a separate Ukrainian Catholic church in Canada. This was initially opposed by the Canadian Catholic hierarchy, especially Archbishop Adélard Langevin, but came to fruition with the appointment of Nykyta Budka as apostolic exarch for Ukrainian Canadian Catholics.

Father Nestor Dmytriw died on May 27, 1925 in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Subtelny, Orest. Ukrainians in North America, An Illustrated History. University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1991, page 65.
  2. ↑ "Biography – Dmytriw, Nestor – Volume XV (1921-1930) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography".
  3. ↑ Marunchak, M.H. The Ukrainian Canadians: A History. Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, Winnipeg, Ottawa, 1970, page 39.
  4. ↑ Marunchak, M.H. The Ukrainian Canadians: A History. Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, Winnipeg, Ottawa, 1970, page 75.
  5. ↑ Marunchak, M.H. The Ukrainian Canadians: A History. Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, Winnipeg, Ottawa, 1970, page 40.
  6. ↑ Marunchak, M.H. The Ukrainian Canadians: A History. Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, Winnipeg, Ottawa, 1970, page 162.
  7. ↑ Martynowych, Orest T. Ukrainians in Canada: The Formative Period, 1891-1924. Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, University of Alberta, Edmonton, 1991, page 184.
  8. ↑ Marunchak, M.H. The Ukrainian Canadians: A History. Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences, Winnipeg, Ottawa, 1970, page 101.

Bibliography

External links

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