Stefan Ustvolsky

Stefan Ustvolsky was a Russian Orthodox priest excommuncicated from the Most Holy Synod in Saint Petersburg and pretend bishop in early Ukrainian Canadian history. He called himself "Bishop Seraphim, Metropolitan of the Orthodox Russian Church for the whole of America" and started the "All-Russian Patriarchal Orthodox Church" in 1902. His claim of consecration was backed by forged documentation and the church eventually fell apart around 1908.

Ustvolsky arrived in New York in 1902, and in 1903 arrived in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In Winnipeg, a large Ukrainian community with a lack of religious leadership quickly flocked to his church. Ustvolsky indiscriminately ordained priests for a fee.

The success of Ustvolsky's church led to the emergence of legitimate Ukrainian Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox churches to serve the needs of the Ukrainian pioneers. In 1912, Nykyta Budka was named the first Ukrainian Catholic bishop in Canada and in 1917, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada was formed.

References

* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=7112 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
* [http://www.archdiocese.ca/ru/moreUOCCformation.pdf The Formation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada]