Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Lutsk

Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Lutsk

*Luceoriensis Ucrainorum*
Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Lutsk; Luceoriensis Ucrainorum
Location
Country	Ukraine
Territory	Volyn Oblast and Rivne Oblast
Headquarters	Lutsk, Ukraine
Information
Sui iuris church	Ukrainian Greek Catholic
Rite	Byzantine
Established	1594 (as Eparchy of Lutsk–Ostroh); 2008 (new)
Dissolved	1839
Cathedral	Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos in Lutsk
Co-cathedral	Co-Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Rivne
Leadership
Pope	Francis
Major Archbishop	Sviatoslav Shevchuk
Archiepiscopal Exarch	Yosafat Hovera
Map
Website
	Official Website

The Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Lutsk (Lutsk of the Ukrainians) is an Archiepiscopal Exarchate (rare Eastern Catholic pre-diocesan jurisdiction, comparable to a Patriarchal exarchate, Apostolic exarchate or Latin Apostolic vicariate; both other cases are also Ukrainian Catholic) in Ukraine of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (Byzantine Rite in Ukrainian language).

Its cathedral episcopal see is the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos, in Lutsk (Луцьк), Volyn Oblast.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 3,173 Catholics in 26 parishes with 25 priests (15 diocesan, 10 religious), 12 lay religious brothers and 6 seminarians.

History

It was established on 15 January 2008 as Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Lutsk (Luc’k in Curiate Italian), on Ukrainian territory split off from the Ukrainian Catholic Major Archeparchy of Kyiv-Halych, which is the Chief (almost a Patriarch) of the particular church sui iuris, to which it is immediately subject, but not formally a Suffragan, and further depends on the Roman Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

It can be considered the de facto successor of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Lutsk–Ostroh, which was founded in 1589, twice suppressed and restored, was finally suppressed in 1839, nominally restored as a titular bishopric in 1921 and suppressed even as such in 1973.