Russian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Russia
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The Russian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Russia is the sui iuris Eastern Catholic jurisdiction of the Catholic church for Russian language Byzantine Rite pastoral in Russia.
It is one of only two components of the dormant Russian Greek Catholic Church (which has no proper diocese), its only sister being the Russian Apostolic Exarchate of Harbin in China, also vacant for decades.
History
It was established in 1917 as an Apostolic exarchate (Eastern Catholic pre-diocesan equivalent of a Apostolic vicariate; hence exempt, i.e. directly subject to the Holy See and its Congregation for the Eastern Churches, not part of any ecclesiastical province), on territory previously exclusively belonging to the Latin Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mohilev.
Ordinaries
It is vacant since 1951, having had only two incumbents, both belonging to the Ukrainian Studite Monks (M.S.U., a Byzantine Rite Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church monastic order):
- Blessed Leontiy Leonid Feodorov, M.S.U. (1917.05.28 – 1935.03.07)
- Blessed Klymentiy Sheptytsky, M.S.U. (1939.09.17 – 1951.05.01); also first Hegumen of Ukrainian Studite Monks (1919 – 1944.11), then Archimandrite of Ukrainian Studite Monks (1944.11 – 1951.05.01)