Diocese of Odesa-Simferopol

The Diocese of Odesa-Simferopol (Latin: Dioecesis Odesensis-Sympheropolitana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in southern Ukraine and Crimea.^[1] A significant part of the Latin Church in Ukraine, it covers an area equivalent to about one-third the size of Poland including areas impacted by annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, and the 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine.^[1] Since 2014, there has been a de facto inter-state border that splits the diocese.

Bronislaw Bernacki was the bishop of the diocese until 2020. He was appointed to the See of Odesa-Simferopol in May 2002 and is based in Odesa. Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk is the current bishop.

History

The history of the diocese begins in 2002, when the diocese of Odesa-Simferopol was erected from the Diocese of Kamyanets-Podilskyi. The diocese's "basic work" began about the time of the Fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Until 1993 this territory was formally part of the Diocese of Tiraspol.^[1]

Auxiliary bishop Pyl described the diocese in 2014 as “missionary territory” with “many challenges.”^[1] He reported that there were about 64 priests and 3,000 faithful in the diocese.^[1] In 2014, in Crimea there were seven parishes and 13 priests and masses were celebrated mainly in Russian but also in English, Spanish, Ukrainian, and Polish.^[1]

As of 2014, Simferopol does not have a co-cathedral.^[1] “We have been waiting for the last 20 years to get permission to build a church,” Bishop Pyl is quoted as saying.^[1] Plans for a co-cathedral had been underway but were put on hold following Russian annexation of Crimea.^[1]

Geography

The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Lviv of the Latins.

Bishops

• Bishop Bronislaw Bernacki (4 May 2002 – 18 February 2020)^[2]
• Coadjutor Bishop Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk, O.F.M. (2 February 2019 – 18 February 2020)^[2]
• Bishop Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk (18 February 2020^[2] – present)