Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky and the Establishment of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States

Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky of Lviv, Galicia (present-day Ukraine) was responsible for the establishment of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States. He also was the force behind the appointment of the first Eastern Catholic bishop in the Western Hemisphere.At the 100th Annual Meeting of the National Commission of the ADL which took place in New York, NY, from October 31 - November 2, 2013, Metropolitan Archbishop Andrei Sheptytsky, a spiritual leader of Ukrainian Catholics who headed the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church from 1900 until his death in 1944, was posthumously honored by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for his undaunted heroism in saving Jews from the Holocaust.Metropolitan Sheptytsky was honored with the ADL Jan Karski Courage to Care Award during ADL’s Centennial Meeting in New York City. He was recognized for his courageous efforts to protect Ukrainian Jews from extermination by supplying false identification papers and shelter from the Nazis at a time when such acts were punishable by death. We are honoring Metropolitan Sheptytsky for his selfless commitment to the goal of preserving human life, and for fighting anti-Semitism under the Nazi regime during a harrowing and dark moment in history, said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director and a Holocaust survivor. We can only speculate how many countless innocent lives were spared by the untiring efforts of this one compassionate individual. Established in 1987 to honor rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust era, the ADL Jan Karski Courage to Care Award, was presented to Sheptytsky’s great nephew, Professor Jerzy Weyman, who accepted on behalf of his family.