Roman Catholic Prelate. A native of Ortynychi in the Zakarpatska Oblast, present day Ukraine, then part of Galicia, Soter Stephen Ortynsky de Labetz was ordained priest through the Basilian Order in July 1891. Named abbot of Mykhailivka in Podillya near the Russian border, finding things in disarray he soon sought to redevelop the monastery and its way of life. Appointed the first bishop of all Greek Catholics in the United States of America by Pope Pius X as he was about to move to Brazil as a missionary, Ortynsky received his episcopal consecration in Lviv on May 12, 1907. Arriving in the United States on August 27, 1907, on May 28, 1913, the Holy See granted him full ordinary jurisdiction, becoming thus independent of every Latin diocese. Inviting the Basilian sisters from Galicia to take care of the education of children, especially orphans, he established the Prosvita, an educational and cultural organization for Ruthenians. Purchasing the old cathedral of the Immaculate Conception over which the present edifice later was rebuilt in 1966, he opened an orphanage out of his own pocket, establishing a printing press, bookstore, vestment store and rug factory through which the daily needs for children could be provided through their profits. A pneumonia cut short his life at the age of fifty. His relatives had in mind to transport his body to Galicia but the expenses and complications of such an endeavor during war left the wish unfulfilled. Instead he was laid to rest in his cathedral on North Franklin Street, dressed in new episcopal vestments.
Roman Catholic Prelate. A native of Ortynychi in the Zakarpatska Oblast, present day Ukraine, then part of Galicia, Soter Stephen Ortynsky de Labetz was ordained priest through the Basilian Order in July 1891. Named abbot of Mykhailivka in Podillya near the Russian border, finding things in disarray he soon sought to redevelop the monastery and its way of life. Appointed the first bishop of all Greek Catholics in the United States of America by Pope Pius X as he was about to move to Brazil as a missionary, Ortynsky received his episcopal consecration in Lviv on May 12, 1907. Arriving in the United States on August 27, 1907, on May 28, 1913, the Holy See granted him full ordinary jurisdiction, becoming thus independent of every Latin diocese. Inviting the Basilian sisters from Galicia to take care of the education of children, especially orphans, he established the Prosvita, an educational and cultural organization for Ruthenians. Purchasing the old cathedral of the Immaculate Conception over which the present edifice later was rebuilt in 1966, he opened an orphanage out of his own pocket, establishing a printing press, bookstore, vestment store and rug factory through which the daily needs for children could be provided through their profits. A pneumonia cut short his life at the age of fifty. His relatives had in mind to transport his body to Galicia but the expenses and complications of such an endeavor during war left the wish unfulfilled. Instead he was laid to rest in his cathedral on North Franklin Street, dressed in new episcopal vestments.
Bio by: Eman Bonnici
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