Cathedral Parish in Parma, Ohio
Saint Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral stands on State Road in Parma, a Cleveland suburb, as the mother church of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saint Josaphat. The parish's welcome is uncommonly direct: "Come and See!" Everyone is welcome, whether they come from a Ukrainian family that has worshipped in this tradition for generations or simply from across the street. The Ukrainian Catholic Church is the largest of the Eastern Churches in full communion with the Pope of Rome, and this cathedral is its center for the faithful spread across Ohio and beyond.
As a cathedral parish, Saint Josaphat hosts the bishop of the Eparchy and welcomes gatherings that draw clergy and laity from across the region. Each weekend it celebrates Divine Liturgy in two languages, and throughout the year it offers formation, family, and fellowship events that nourish the wider Ukrainian Catholic community in Northeast Ohio.
Liturgies in English and Ukrainian
Visitors who arrive on a Saturday evening or any hour of Sunday will find a Byzantine Divine Liturgy in progress. The weekly schedule:
- Saturday - 5:00 PM, English
- Sunday - 8:00 AM, Ukrainian
- Sunday - 9:30 AM, English
- Sunday - 11:00 AM, Ukrainian
The Divine Liturgy is celebrated in full according to the Byzantine tradition, with chanting, incense, and the liturgical calendar observed by Ukrainian Greek-Catholic parishes throughout the world. The English liturgies welcome those unfamiliar with the rite. The two Ukrainian liturgies keep the cathedral's heritage alive: families chant the responses their grandparents knew, the choir sings traditional melodies, and the liturgical year is observed in the language of generations of immigrants from Eastern Europe.
Some services are celebrated hierarchically when Bishop Bohdan J. Danylo presides. On those occasions the cathedral fills with visitors from across the Eparchy and additional clergy concelebrate.
For First-Time Visitors
Parishioners are ready to greet newcomers at the entrance before Liturgy. There is ample parking alongside the cathedral building. Modest attire is customary, but the regular congregation includes people in everything from business casual to jeans. Hospitality after Liturgy is part of the rhythm of parish life, and visitors regularly join the social hour that follows the Sunday morning services.
Children are welcome at the Liturgy. The cathedral's approach to children reflects the Byzantine tradition of having young and old together in the nave. For parents looking for additional formation outside the main service, the cathedral's Vacation with God summer program offers catechesis, games, crafts, and activities during the warmer months.
Communion is distributed to baptized Catholics in a state of grace. Orthodox Christians in good standing with their communion are welcome to receive. Those who wish to learn more about becoming Catholic, whether in the Byzantine or the Latin rite, are encouraged to speak with the rector after Liturgy.
Scripture, Tradition, Community
The mission of Saint Josaphat is described in three words: Scripture, Tradition, Community. Each section of the parish's statement unpacks how the cathedral lives its vocation.
Scripture. Parishioners are nourished by the Incarnate Word through readings at every Divine Liturgy, Gospel-based preaching, and the regular celebration of the sacraments. The cathedral's children hear the same Gospel proclaimed week after week; its adults sit under preaching rooted in the Byzantine lectionary. Beyond Sunday services, the parish distributes pastoral letters from the Synod of Bishops that read the signs of the times in the light of Sacred Scripture and call the faithful to conversion, witness, and hope.
Tradition. At Baptism, the faithful receive the gifts of orthodox Faith and Christian Hope and Love. The cathedral celebrates these gifts and confesses its acceptance of the Church's teachings at every Divine Liturgy, in the Creed, and in the Eucharist. Tradition here means more than centuries-old rubrics: it is the handing-on of faith from one generation to the next. The Ukrainian-language liturgies, the choir's weekly practice, the icons that line the walls, and the parish's insistence that families worship together are how the gifts of Faith, Hope, and Love are passed down.
Community. The faithful gather as the Body of Christ to unite themselves with Christ their Head and to offer praises to the Father in the Holy Spirit. That gathering does not end at the dismissal. The Men's Club, the choir, the festival committee, the fish-fry volunteers, the catechists who lead Vacation with God, and the couples who plan Marriage Week form the building blocks of community life. From them the parish becomes a witness in the wider community to the New Life of which its members are partakers in the Church.
The Clergy and Choir Who Lead Worship
Bishop Most Reverend Bohdan J. Danylo is the Eparch of Saint Josaphat in Parma. He visits the cathedral regularly, presides at hierarchical Liturgies, gathers the permanent deacons of the Eparchy for their annual formation weekend, and chairs the gatherings at which pastoral priorities are set.
Cathedral Rector: Rev. Volodymyr Hrytsyuk. Father Hrytsyuk has been a voice in the wider community far beyond the cathedral's own pews. He has been invited to share reflections at ecumenical prayer services for Ukraine, where his words capture the spirit of a parish whose members have family and friends in harm's way. His appeal at such gatherings - to pray for the Ukrainian people, to speak up to American authorities, and to help open borders for refugees - expresses the cathedral's response to the ongoing war.
Cathedral Archdeacon: Rev. Archdeacon Jeffrey Smolilo. The Archdeacon serves the cathedral at the altar and assists the bishop and rector at hierarchical Liturgies.
Subdeacon: Don Dalessandro. Mr. Dalessandro assists at the altar and serves the cathedral's liturgical life.
Choir Director: Lyudmyla Sonewald. The members of Saint Josaphat Choir are dedicated and talented volunteers who practice weekly and sing at the Ukrainian Divine Liturgy every Sunday. If God has given you the gift of a beautiful voice, the invitation is direct: come share your talents and evangelize your faith by joining the choir. Rehearsals take place weekly, and the choir's commitment gives shape to the cathedral's primary Ukrainian-language service.
Pastoral Letters and the Wider Ukrainian Catholic Church
The cathedral publishes the pastoral letters of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in both English and Ukrainian. These annual documents guide the life of the entire Church, from Kyiv to the diaspora, and the cathedral makes them easily accessible to anyone curious about Eastern Catholic teaching.
Recent letters have addressed the pastoral plan known as "The Vibrant Parish - a Place to Encounter the Living Christ," the pastoral care of families in time of war, the theological meaning of Christian hope, and the nurturing of priestly and monastic vocations. The Ukrainian Catholic bishops in the United States also publish letters for Saint Philip's Fast (Pylypivka), Great Lent, Pascha, and the Nativity.
Themes have included pastoral conversion, the building of networks of communion, the cure of wounds and traumas, closeness to the poor and marginalized, the Christian family as a domestic church, and the call to a missionary "going forth" into the world. For an English-speaking newcomer curious about Eastern Catholic life, the letters offer a thoughtful entry into the thinking of the global Ukrainian Catholic Church. They touch on the experience of persecution under communism, the witness of the underground Church, the displacement of families by the war in Ukraine, and the call to be a vibrant parish in Northeast Ohio and beyond.
The Men's Club
The Men's Club of Saint Josaphat Cathedral works to preserve and strengthen the spirit of solidarity in the membership of the parish and to serve and promote interest in religious, cultural, and social life of the Church community. Its members help organize the annual Festival and the Lenten Fish Fry, support parish projects through fundraising, and provide fellowship for husbands and fathers in the parish. The Men's Club is one of the cathedral's longstanding parish organizations.
Vacation with God: A Summer Program for Children
For three days each summer the cathedral hosts "Vacation with God," a parish day-camp program for children. Each morning opens with common prayer and the Divine Liturgy, followed by engaging catechism lessons, games, crafts, singing, sports, and the kind of joyful atmosphere that summer days at church allow. Each year's program centers on a scriptural theme.
Vacation with God runs on volunteers - catechists, camp leaders, kitchen staff, parents, and older youth. The parish thanks them publicly each summer and credits their dedication, hard work, and prayers with making the days meaningful. The program's bilingual character gives children from English-speaking and Ukrainian-speaking families a shared space in which to grow in faith.
Parents who want their children involved in ongoing formation should contact the rectory. The cathedral also announces family events through its annual Festival and through the benefit luncheons that support the Eparchy more broadly.
Festival, Fish Fry, and Benefit Luncheon
The Saint Josaphat Festival is the cathedral's biggest community gathering of the year. Held on the grounds around the parish in late summer, it brings together parishioners, neighbors from Parma and the wider Cleveland area, and visitors from across the Eparchy for two days of Ukrainian food, live music, children's activities, and the chance to catch up with friends one does not otherwise see during the year. Festival proceeds support the cathedral's ministries.
Each Lent the cathedral hosts a Lenten Fish Fry, a parish tradition shared with many Catholic and Orthodox communities. The fish fry keeps the parish hall full on Friday evenings through the Great Fast and offers an opportunity for fellowship between the Ukrainian Catholics who make up the regular congregation and neighbors who come for the food.
Each autumn Bishop Danylo and the Eparchy host the Bishop's Benefit Luncheon, with proceeds supporting the work of the Eparchy throughout Ohio and beyond. The cathedral's parish also contributes to a silent auction and other fundraising events organized by the Eparchy.
These events - festival in late summer, Lenten fish fry on Fridays through the Great Fast, and benefit luncheons in autumn - give the cathedral a steady rhythm that connects the Ukrainian Catholic community to its parish and the parish to its neighbors.
Family Life and Marriage Resources
The cathedral takes seriously the bishops' description of the family as a "domestic Church." Under a Family Life heading the parish collects reflections on the Theotokos, the Feast of the Encounter, and the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia, alongside materials for Marriage Week and the National Day of Marriage. Prayer for Marriage and marriage quotes are available in both English and Ukrainian.
Each February the parish marks Marriage Week and the World Marriage Day. The cathedral's published materials draw on the Ukrainian Catholic tradition to support engaged and married couples. A meditation drawn from Amoris Laetitia invites each member of a household to consider their preferred mode of prayer - vocal, meditative, or contemplative - and how the family might build a shared rhythm of prayer together.
The same Family Life section gathers seasonal reflections: an essay on the Feast of the Encounter, the icon of the Mother of God of the Sign, and the Akathist Hymn. These pieces form an ongoing formation in the Ukrainian Catholic spiritual tradition for any adult who wants to grow in it.
Diaconal Formation Weekend
Once a year the Eparchy gathers its permanent deacons, diaconal candidates, and their wives for a long-weekend retreat in Parma. The Diaconal Formation Weekend has been a fixture of Eparchy life for years. Past themes have included the meaning of Christ's Resurrection, healing and trauma, and the spiritual life of the Byzantine deacon.
The retreats are led by theologians of Eastern Christianity and include prayer together, theological sessions, fellowship, and time with Bishop Danylo. They have drawn participants from across the eastern United States. For couples or individuals discerning a call to the permanent diaconate, the Eparchy publishes information through the cathedral's network, and the rector can connect interested candidates with the appropriate vocations director.
Prayer for Ukraine and Solidarity with the Suffering
Since the war in Ukraine began, the cathedral has been a gathering point for prayer, advocacy, and solidarity with the Ukrainian people. Father Hrytsyuk and the cathedral community have joined with other Northeast Ohio clergy at major ecumenical prayer services. The parish continues to mark each February 24 with a Moleben for Peace in Ukraine, and parishioners regularly gather for prayer as the war continues.
The cathedral publishes the bishops' letters on the war and on peace, including the pastoral letter for Saint Philip's Fast (Pylypivka) on Christ's coming into a wounded world and reflections on the Jubilee Year of Hope. Parents, grandparents, children, and youth are encouraged to engage with the reflections at home, and the parish points the faithful to mental-health resources through the Help and Hope 4 Ukraine initiative, which produces short videos on stress, grief, and resilience.
This work is not abstract for many at Saint Josaphat. The Ukrainian-American community of Northeast Ohio includes families with deep ties to Western Ukraine, and the war has reshaped the parish's pastoral priorities. Prayer for peace threads through the cathedral's daily life.
Bulletin Archive: A Record of Parish Life
The cathedral publishes a Sunday bulletin each week of the year, and the archive is preserved online. The bulletins list the troparion and kontakion of the day, the readings from the Epistle and Gospel, the schedule of services for the week, names of the sick and deceased for whom the parish is praying, the stewardship of time and treasure that supports the parish, and a meditation for the coming week.
Two liturgical systems operate in tandem through the year. The Byzantine year moves through the Great Fast, Pascha, Pentecost, the Sundays after Pentecost, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, the Christmas cycle with Theophany, and the Sundays leading up to Lent again. The bulletin is the cathedral's way of keeping parishioners, occasional visitors, and friends near and far oriented within that calendar.
For those interested in the depth of the cathedral's life, the bulletin archive offers years of pastoral reflections from Father Hrytsyuk and visiting clergy, meditations on the readings, lists of those remembered in prayer, and the day-by-day rhythm of parish life. Even those who have moved away from Parma often keep the bulletins as a touchstone.
Becoming Part of Saint Josaphat Cathedral
Anyone interested in joining the parish is warmly invited. The rector and deacon are available to talk about Baptism, Chrismation, and First Communion for children and adults; about marriage preparation in either English or Ukrainian; about funerals and memorial services; and about the catechetical preparation that precedes reception into the Catholic Church.
Parishioners support the cathedral through regular offerings, through volunteer time at the festival and the fish fry, and through service in the choir, the Men's Club, Vacation with God, and the many other ministries that keep the cathedral running. The parish's needs are simple and its expectations clear: pray together, support one another, and bring the Gospel into the wider community of Northeast Ohio.
The cathedral is connected to its community online through its Facebook page, which carries the latest news and announcements. For those unable to attend in person, the Ukrainian Catholic Church worldwide offers online access to many pastoral and liturgical resources. Yet the cathedral's heart is the gathering itself: the Divine Liturgy on a Sunday morning, the chant of the choir, the icons on the walls, the children running in the parking lot after Liturgy, the men of the parish serving pierogi at the festival, and the priest welcoming visitors at the door.
That welcome is the cathedral's deepest tradition. For those who come for the English or the Ukrainian Liturgy, whether cradle Ukrainian Catholic, convert from another Christian tradition, or simply curious about the Eastern Churches, the words on the cathedral's door remain an open invitation: "Come and See!"