The Mission Society

We PRAY to God for healing of the division of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, for the spiritual growth of the American Byzantine Catholic Church; for the renewal of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church in the Trans-Carpathian Oblast of Ukraine, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, and Croatia; for the canonization of Bishop-Martyrs Theodore Romzha Paul Peter Gojdich, Basil Hopko and Father Methodius Trcka and the advancement of the Causes of Venerable Petro Oros, Priest-Martyr and other martyrs and confessors from the Soviet era; and for the building up of the Kingdom of God in justice and charity among all people.

We assist the (Ruthenian) Greek Catholic Church in the Trans- Carpathian Oblast of the republic of Ukraine, which is the territory of the ancient Eparchy of Mukachevo; the Archeparchy of Presov and its suffragan eparchies of Kosice and Bratislava in Slovakia; and the Eparchy of Hajdudorogh, Hungary.

The Mission Society Office is in the Blanchette House at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Our chaplain is Father Christopher L. Zugger, former pastor and now in residence at the parish. Our office workers and board members are all volunteers who give of their time freely. You can Email us at admin@missionboronyavo.org Send your donations to Support The Mission Society using easy donations through Pay Pal or by mail.

Finding a Hidden Church

Father Chris Zugger's new book is the result of eight years of interviews and research covering the history of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic church in the USSR and independent Ukraine. Here  you will find not only background history of the Church before 1945, but the heroic witness of Blessed Theodore Romzha (killed in 1947), Bishop Petro Oros (executed 1953), Bishop Alexander Khira who died in Kazakhstan, and scores of priests, their wives, their children, and other people who fought to keep their beloved Church alive in a hostile society.

Read about the anti-religious attitudes of the Soviet Union, the imposition of harsh legislation, and the rupture of a 1,000 year old culture and Church. Also discover the determination of people to keep their faith in Jesus Christ and Catholicism alive by worshipping secretly at night, in forests, in barns, and how the Church survived with not one legal building and constant harrassment by the feared secret police. Discover the new ways Bishop Khira and underground priests came up with training new priests, establishing forbidden parishes, and nurturing the faith in an incredibly hostile atmosphere.

Included are short histories of what happened to the other Byzantine Catholic Churches in the Soviet bloc, five maps, over 70 photographs including some from the dreaded Gulag camps. Be inspired to renew your own faith in God and your own dedication to His Church and to realize that the impossible can be achieved, but only when relying on God's grace.