www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology Question on Saints in the Ruthenian Church

Why does the Ruthenian Church have so few of their own saints? The majority of saints or saint candidates (like Theodore Romzha) were Roman Catholics who were assigned authority over a Ruthenian Eparchy. Several hundred years of communion with Rome and our monasteries have largely dried up and we are seemingly dying out. The various Orthodox jurisdictions have a litany of contemporary saints. Where are ours?

Thanks in advance to any who can shed light on this for me.

Christ is in our midst!!

Could it be that saints are canonized by Rome and that the same process that is followed by Roman dioceses must be used by Ruthenian eparchies?

Could it be that this process is expensive and this fact enters into consideration?

I don't think it's fair to say that our Saints were Roman Catholics. I do believe Theodore Romzha was authentically Byzantine, not Roman. Also note that our history is tightly knit with Ukrainian, Slovak, and other Eastern Catholic churches. Here is a list of some on their way to canonization. If there are any more, please add them. I'd love a complete list.

St. Josaphat Kuntsevych

Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich
Blessed Theodore Romzha
Blessed Pavel Gojdic
Blessed Basil Hopko
Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky
Blessed Klymentiy Sheptytsky
Blessed Volodymyr Pryjma


Venerable Petro Oros (Beatification approved 2022)
Venerable Andrey Sheptytsky

https://web.archive.org/web/20141129055636/http://www.ugcc.org.ua/35.0.html?&L=2
https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20010627_carneckyj_en.html

Aren't they all martyrs or persecuted for their affiliations with Rome? I am more concerned with our seeming lack of ascetic saints.

Christ is in our midst!!

You may have already answered your own question.

" . . . our monasteries have largely dried up . . ."

There are other ways of being a saint than being a monastic. How about people who are recognized for their holiness in their communities?