Church of the Ascension in Chortkiv


Church of the Ascension is a Greek Catholic Parish Church in Chortkiv of the Chortkiv urban hromada of the Chortkiv Raion of the Ternopil Oblast, and an architectural monument of national importance.

History

The parish was founded in 1717, but the church was built earlier, in 1630. It was severely damaged by Turkish and Tatar attacks in 1640 and 1672 but was completely rebuilt in 1717. At that time, the church, which was previously named after St. Nicholas, received a new name—the Ascension Church—and the parish became Greek Catholic. Construction was funded by residents of Dolishnia Vyhnanka, as well as the church brotherhood and artisans of Chortkiv.
Throughout the early and mid-20th century, the church was neglected and inactive. In July 1967, architect V. Zakharov developed a restoration project, after which the church received the status of a state monument of 18th-century wooden architecture. After 1946, Greek Catholics continued to hold underground services, and the first public service after leaving the underground took place on Easter in 1989 in a chapel in the cemetery in Syniakove. From 2003 to 2014, Fr. Andrii Melnyk managed to attract new parishioners and carry out large-scale restoration work.
On 28 May 2017, to mark the 300th anniversary of the church, the Divine Liturgy was led by Metropolitan Vasyl Semeniuk and Eparch Dmytro Hryhorak.
The following groups are active at the parish: the "Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network" brotherhood, the "Mothers in Prayer" and "Ukrainian Youth for Christ" communities, as well as a Bible study group and the "Mercy" society. The parish owns a rectory.

Abbots

  • at. Petro Dudynskyi
  • at. Yakiv Tymchuk
  • at. Didych
  • at. Yosyf Bilan
  • at. Mykhailo Korzhynskyi
  • at. Taras Senkiv
  • at. Hryhorii Kanak
  • at. Roman Honcharyk
  • at. Andrii Melnyk
  • at. Volodymyr Bilinchuk
  • at. Marian Lemchuk