GREEK
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GREEK
into the United States and the organization of their
churches and rite has been too recent to properly speak
by name of any distinguished representatives of tlieir
clerg}- or laity. Nearly everyone who took a prom-
inent part in their settlement and development is
still alive and engaged in active work, while a vigorous
younger generation born on American soil is now
growing up. Among the Greek priests here in America
are several who are authors of learned works upon the
church language and ritual, others who have filled
posts of considerable distinction in the dioceses in
Hungary and Galieia whence they came, and manj'
who have constantly employed their tongue and pen
in the education and improvement of their fellow-
countrymen in this country. There is, however, no
religious order of women of the Greek Rite, nor any
association whatever of women devoted to church
service in the United States, nor has any attempt been
made so far, either on the part of the clergy or laity,
to establish here anything of the kind.
In addition to the Ruthenian Greek Catholics in the United States, there are a large number of them in Canada. They are principally settled in the pro\-inces of Manitoba, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, w4iere they have devoted themselves to agricultural pursuits. It is said that a Ruthenian often works hard in the United States, saves up his money, and emigrates to Canada, where he can obtain cheap land under the homestead acts. There is besides a considerable direct immigration from Galieia and Hungary, but the majority of the Canadian Ruthenians are Galicians. Their first churcii (St Nicholas) in Canada was built about 1900 at Winnipeg by the Basilian monks who are in charge of the Greek missions of the northwest. The Very Rev. Platonides Filas, O. S.B.M., who is now (1909) tlie superior of the order in Galieia, was the first missionary sent there. Afterwards, in 1905, an- other church (St. Josaphat) was built at Edmonton. Later on a monastery was established in Winnipeg, with a branch at Monaster, Alberta. From these central points, there are now (1909) over sixty missionary sta- tions established with small Greek chapels at Oaknook, Swan River, Barrows, Ethelbert, Garland, Grand View, Minatonas, Yorkton, Beaverdale, Rabbit Hill, Star, Laraont, Nimdare, and Skaro. In thLs section the Ruthenians have to contend with the Russian Orthodox missions, which are well provided for, and with certain schismatics from the Russian Orthodox known as the "Seraphimites", or independent Graeco- Russian Church. There are three missionary com- munities of the Basilian monks: at Winnipeg, Edmon- ton, and Monaster. The Greek clergy in Canada consist of eight monks and four secular priests. The number of Ruthenian Greek Catholics is between 45,000 and 50,000, widely scattered through these northwest territories. In Canada there is a religious order of women of the Greek Rite, the Servants of Mary (14 in number), whose mother-house is in Lem- berg, Galieia. They have schools at Winnipeg, Ed- monton, Monaster, and in some outlying districts. The Canadian Ruthenians publish a small paper (Canadian Farmer) and have several societies on the pattern of those in the United States.
II. RuM.ANiAN Greek Catholics. — These people come from the eastern provinces of Hungarj'- known as Transylvania. They are of a nationality which claims to come down from the Roman colonists who were settled there by the Emperor Trajan, and hence they still call themselves Romani. These Transyl- vanians are really of an older political order and settle- ment than the independent country known as Ru- mania, which bounds Transylvania on the east. The inhabitants of both lands are of the same stock, but those in Ihmgary were organized and in possession of a fair amount of education and political rights under Hungarian rule whilst the present Kingdom of Ru- mania was still oppressed under Turkish rule. The
latter only obtained its intlependence after the Russo-
Turkish war of 1878, and in turn began the education
and enlightenment of its people.
The Rumanian language is a Latin tongue, some- what similar to Italian, but with a considerable mix- ture of Slavic, Greek, and Turkish words in it. It is also the language of the Mass and liturgical offices according to the Greek Rite among the Rumanians, and is an instance where the Church has made a modern tongue the liturgical language. Owing to Slavonic influences, the Rumanian language was formerly written in Slavonic or Russian characters, and this continued until about 1825, when the Roman alphabet was adopted, first by the Catholic Ruma- nians and then b}- the Orthodox, and it has been used for the Rumanian language ever since. Even for church books the Slavonic letters (the C\Tillic alpha- bet) had to give waj- to the Latin letters, just as the Slavonic Liturgy in the church services had given awa\' to the Rumanian, and now both the Catholic and the Orthodox Mass-books and Office-books are printed beautifully in Latin letters and modern Rumanian, whether for use in the churches of Tran- sylvania or Rumania. The Rumanian Church, although Greek in rite, was originally under the juris- diction of Rome up to the ninth century, when Con- stantinople assumed jurisdiction over it, and later on, when Constantinople fell into schism, the Rumanaan Church went with it. Frequently, however, during the centuries that followed, partially successful a1> tempts were made towards reunion. At the time of the so-called Reformation in Western Europe the Calvinists endeavoured to persuade a portion of the Rumanian clergy and their flocks to embrace the new doctrines. This naturally led to an examination of matters wherein the Roman Church differed from the Calvinists, and also to the points wherein it was in harmony with the Greek Church, and later to a desire for union with it. The union of the Rumanian Greek Church in Hungary (for the other Rumanians were subjects of Turkey) with the Holy See dates from 1700. The preliminaries for union had been in progress for several years before, and once or twice had been on the eve of success. In the year just men- tioned the Metropolitan Athanasius held a general sjTiod of the clergy of Transjdvania at Alba Juha (Gyulyafehervar), which declared, on 5 September, 1700, that "freely and spontaneously moved thereto by the impulse of Divine Grace, we have entered upon a union with the Roman Catholic church". This decree was signed by the metropolitan, 54 arch-priests, and 1503 priests. The act of union was confirmed at Rome in the following year, and the Greek Catholic hierarchy was for a long time the only Greek hier- archy in Transylvania Towards the middle of the last century the Greek Orthodox Rumanian hierarchy was also established. The Rumanian Greek Cathohcs are very proud of their imion with Rome, and church documents are often dated not only by the year of our Lord (pre anul Domnului), but also by the year of the union (pre anul de la santa unire^.
The Rumanian immigrant does not seem to have begim to come to the United States until about the begimiing of the present centurj'. In the year 1900 Rumanian immigration from Transylvania and Northern Hungary began to flow towards the United States, and lately has been followed by immigration from Rumania itself. It has steadily increased until now (1909) there are between 60,000 and 70,000 Rumanians in the LTnited States. Nearly all these have come from Hungary; only a small minority are from the Kingdom of Rumania. Those from Hun- gary are from the southern and western counties of Transylvania, chiefly the counties of Szatmar, Szilagy, Fogaras, Bihar, and Temes. The Greek Catholics among them number about 45,000, and they are scat- tered through the LInited States from the Atlantic to
