Senyshyn, Ambrose

Senyshyn, Ambrose [Сенишин, Амврозій; Senyšyn, Amvrozij], b 23 February 1903 in Staryi Sambir, Sambir county, Galicia, d 11 September 1976 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Ukrainian Catholic metropolitan. A Basilian novice and monk from 1922 at the Krekhiv Monastery, the Lavriv Saint Onuphrius's Monastery, the Dobromyl monastery, and the Krystynopil Monastery, he was ordained in 1931 and served as a pastor in Warsaw (1931–3), hegumen of the monastery of the Basilian monastic order in Chicago (1933–42), and pastor at Saint Nicholas’s Church in Chicago (1937–42). In 1942 he became auxiliary bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic exarchy in the United States of America. While residing in Stamford, Connecticut (at Saint Basil’s College), he founded the Missionary Sisters of the Mother of God (1944) and the Ukrainian Catholic Relief Committee (1946). He also published liturgical books, edited the monthly Kovcheh (1946–56), and initiated a series of recordings to standardize Ukrainian liturgical chant. Senyshyn served as apostolic exarch of Stamford (1956–8), the first bishop of Stamford eparchy (1958–61), and metropolitan of the Ukrainian Catholic church in the United States of America and archbishop of Philadelphia archeparchy (1961–76). As metropolitan he introduced the mandatory use of the Gregorian calendar in his archeparchy. He built 25 new churches and a new cathedral (in Philadelphia) and founded eight new parishes and missions and, in 1965, the Ukrainian Studies Center and Byzantine Slavic Arts Foundation at Saint Josaphat’s Seminary in Washington, DC. In 1973 he was appointed to the Congregation for Eastern Churches.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993).]