History
Christ the Saviour
Cathedral is the Mother
Church of the American
Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese. It
was established as a parish in 1937. The
parish initially conducted services in St. Mark's Episcopal Church in downtown Johnstown. After purchasing property in the West End of
Johnstown, the parish worshipped in a converted building (a former bakery) on
the corner of Sheridan Street and Butler Avenue which the men of the parish
transformed into a church, classroom area and social hall. The first officers were: Stephen Matolyak,
John Hobor and Stephen Blaschak.
On October 6-8 of 1939, the
first Convention of the Diocesan Youth Organization, A.C.R.Y., was held in Johnstown and attended by
hundreds of members. In 1941, the parish
acquired a cemetery on Benshoff Hill.
The plot of land on which the Cathedral is built was acquired in 1946. This corner property was central to
discussions that began in 1949 that quickly led to an agreement between Christ
the Saviour Parish and the Diocese whereby the Cathedral and Seminary would be
located in Johnstown. The agreement stipulated that the parish
would give to the Diocese a parcel of land, $65,000 in seed money and the use
of the rectory. Officers promoting this
proposal were Michael Radasky, George Volcsko, Charles Gost and Joseph W.
Buchovesky. The parish approved this
agreement on September 17,
1950, and the Diocese executed the agreement on October 4, 1950. Mr. Jesse J. Hamblin of Bridgeport, Connecticut was retained
as architect to design the new Cathedral.
To complete the agreement, the
stately Strayer Manor in the West End was
purchased by the Diocese in September 1951 for use as a Seminary. The first class of seminarians was enrolled
on November 1 of that year.
When the Very Rev. John Yurcisin
was appointed as pastor on June
17, 1952, the building of the Cathedral began in earnest. Joseph W. Buchovesky was the building
chairman. On July 10, 1952, the construction contract was
awarded to the Wilson Construction Company.
Groundbreaking took place on July 12, and construction began on July
14. The cornerstone was blessed by Bishop
Orestes on October 5, 1952,
and the new Cathedral was completed within two years. It was dedicated by Bishop Orestes on May 30, 1954 with thousands
of people in attendance. This truly was
a turning point for the Diocese. WJAC-TV
captured the ceremonies on reel-to-reel tape.
Main celebrant was His Excellency, Bishop Orestes, assisted by the Rt.
Rev. Peter E. Molchany, the Very Rev. John Yurcisin and scores of priests
during the 4-hour long Dedication Liturgy.
Singing responses in addition to the Cathedral Choir directed by Prof.
Andrew Panchisin were St. Nicholas Choir of Homestead
under the direction of Prof. John Pazey, and St. George Choir of Taylor under the direction
of Prof. William Fairchok. There were
152 Cathedral parishioners who served on 18 different committees. Two kitchens prepared and served banquet
meals in 3 halls to accommodate the thousands of participants. During the Service, Bishop Orestes bestowed
the Order of Christ the Saviour on four laymen for meritorious service to the
Diocese: Stephen Conjelko of Windber,
and Joseph W. Buchovesky, Michael Radasky and Michael Gost of Johnstown.
Growth in the Cathedral
continued. On February 5, 1956, 14 Boy Scouts and Explorer
Scouts from the Cathedral received the newly-established, coveted Alpha-Omega
Award for Scouting. The local Scout
troup initiated the award which became a standard for Orthodox scouting throughout
the United States. In August of 1957 the first of many Altar Boy
Retreats was held at the Cathedral and Seminary. The Cathedral was also the site for 28 annual
Pilgrimages through the years, the first of which was on July 4, 1955. Noting the need to improve the Seminary
facility, a complete structural renovation that lasted for two years began in
1955. To relieve the high cost of
construction, 117 men from the Cathedral volunteered their labor to complete
the extensive reconstruction.
The famous "American Carpatho-Russian Cookbook" was produced by our Mothers
and Daughters Club in 1960 (cover design by Maryann Raslevich). It was so popular with thousands of copies
sold all over the Diocese that it was revised and enlarged in 1978 by the
Cathedral Parents and Teachers Guild, and once again enlarged and reprinted in
2000, 2003 and 2006 through the efforts of Pani Constance Miloro, Stephanie
Miloro Kobal, Kay Matolyak and Marion Sprincz.
In 1963, Father Nicholas Smisko
was assigned as the first assistant pastor. That year also marked the construction and dedication of a Bishop's Residence
next to the Cathedral.
In 1967, the Cathedral A.C.R.Y.
spearheaded a National A.C.R.Y. drive among all the A.C.R.Y. chapters to
collect "trading stamps" in a special project for the Seminary. The project resulted in accumulating 2,000
books of S & H green stamps. In
return, at the end of the drive, the Sperry-Hutchinson Company provided a new
1969 Ford station wagon for the Seminary.
The parish suffered an
unexpected loss in 1970. Prof. Andrew
Panchisin, who had served the Parish as Cantor and Choir Director of junior and
senior choirs for some 30 years, died suddenly on January 15, 1970. He was buried from the Cathedral on January
19. Interim directors were Father
Michael S. Rosco and Prof. Michael Semanitzky who directed choir until Ms.
Helen Spanovich accepted the position of choir director in 1972, a position
which she still holds.
A beautiful outdoor mosaic cross
was erected on the Cathedral grounds in 1970.
In 1977, Metropolitan Orestes P.
Chornock, who had made Johnstown his second home and loved to be here, fell
asleep in the Lord on February 17. May
the Lord rest his faithful servant.
Vicnaja pamjat! In the same year,
the people of the Cathedral Parish erected the beautiful Christ the Saviour Educational Center
across from the Cathedral. It was
dedicated by the late Bishop John R. Martin.
The Center houses Sunday School classrooms, activity room and
library. The remainder of the Center is
an expansive all-purpose hall that seats 800, complete with a modern commercial
kitchen.
Twenty bishops of the Orthodox
Church gathered in Johnstown in 1978 for the
first U.S.
Bishops' Conference, and a Consultation of Orthodox and Catholic hierarchs
convened here in 1990. The 50th
anniversary of the Diocese was celebrated here in 1988. Our Cathedral has also been the site of seven
Diocesan Councils - Sobors over the years.
The Cathedral has been visited
by two Ecumenical Patriarchs - His All-Holiness Patriarch Dimitrios in 1990 and
His All-Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew in 1997 during which visit the Patriarch
presided over ceremonies for the laying of the cornerstone of the new Chancery
Office Building. Our Cathedral was also
visited by Patriarch Diodorus of the Jerusalem
Patriarchate in 1982. We have been hosts
to bishops from the Carpathians, the Czech
Republic and Serbia. Two of our own hierarchs were consecrated as
new bishops in our Cathedral - the late + Bishop Peter Shymansky of blessed
memory on November 21, 1963,
and the late + Bishop John R. Martin of blessed memory on October 6, 1966. Bishop John served the Diocese energetically until
1984 when he died suddenly on September 30 in Christ the Saviour Educational
Center during a banquet
honoring Father John and Pani Ann Yurcisin
on their 40th wedding anniversary and Father John's 40th
anniversary of ordination. The Bishop
was buried on October 4 near the Cathedral. Eternal Memory! In November the diocesan clergy convened and
chose a new Bishop in a historic election in the Cathedral. The Diocese's fourth hierarch, Bishop
Nicholas Smisko, was then confirmed by the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate of Constantinople. Bishop Nicholas succeeded Bishop John Martin and
was enthroned in the Cathedral on Friday of Bright Week, April 19, 1985.
In 1987, Pani Constance Miloro
and Romayne Laichak spearheaded a movement to lead faithful to the "March for
Life" on Washington, DC to protest abortion. The effort met so much success that a Johnstown Deanery bus has traveled every year since then to
Washington on
January 22.
The
50th anniversary of the Diocese was celebrated in 1988 with colorful
ceremonies in the Cathedral led by Bishop Nicholas.
On
November 4, 1990
a dual celebration took place in the Cathedral.
Protopresbyter John Yurcisin was elevated to Diocesan Vicar and
Protopresbyter Frank P. Miloro was installed as Diocesan Chancellor.
Protopresbyter John Yurcisin,
after serving the Cathedral Parish since 1952, officially entered into
retirement December 31, 1996. He was
succeeded by the Associate Pastor, Protopresbyter Frank P. Miloro, on January
1, 1997. Father Miloro has served the
Cathedral since 1985 when he was assigned as Associate Pastor, serving in that
capacity through 1996, and as Senior Pastor from 1997 to the present.
In 1997 the Cathedral cupolas
were reguilded, a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Horbal Jr. in honor of the 50th
wedding anniversary of Dorothy and Anthony Horbal Sr. A new sound system was also installed. Mr. George Nedelkov did extensive interior
painting, including retouching murals, as he has done numerous times over the
years.
His Eminence, Archbishop
Spyridon visited the Cathedral in 1997 and presided at groundbreaking ceremonies
for the new Chancery
Building. Metropolitan Nicholas blessed the new building
in 1998.
In 1999, a beautiful pictorial
directory was published which featured photographs of parishioners and scenes
from parish life.
The construction of a new $250,000
rectory was undertaken by the parish in 2000.
Christ the Saviour
Educational Center
provided $50,000 for this project, and additional funds were generated through
an "Investing in Tomorrow" program inaugurated in July 2000 which raised an
additional $126,000 through parishioners' generosity. A new parking lot for guests of the Educational Center
and worshippers at Sunday Liturgies was installed by the Educational Center
which provided an additional 70 off-street parking spaces. The cemetery road was repaved in 2001 which
was a huge undertaking at the cost of $40,000.
September 11, 2001 marked the opening of the
first Orthodox parochial school for the Greater Johnstown Area. Instrumental in this monumental task was
Cathedral parishioner, Mrs. Christina Sakmar who worked with others from the
Cathedral and various Orthodox parishes to establish the St. Sophia Orthodox Christian
Academy.
In order to secure the perpetual
existence of the Cathedral, an "Eternal Memory Endowment Fund" was established
in 2002. Including a matching gift offer
by an anonymous parishioner, the people have presently contributed over $550,000
to this ongoing fund. Combined with a
recent estate gift to the parish and an earlier endowment, the Eternal Memory
Fund is valued at over a million dollars.
On August 4, 2002, the parish honored Ms. Helen
Spanovich for teaching and directing the Cathedral Choir for 30 years, and for
a total of 62 years of directing choirs in the Johnstown area. Helen continues to direct the
Cathedral Choir. Among her many accomplishments was the publication of a
Presanctified Liturgy Book of Prostopinije four-part singing for choirs, and a
Liturgy book of Prostopinije four-part singing for choirs. Cantor for the parish is Dr. Donald Koval who is assisted by the
Cathedral Cantorial Singers.
In September of 2002, after
serving the Cathedral
Church School
for 44 years as teacher and superintendent, Mrs. Irene Popp retired. Among her accomplishments was the
establishment of the popular Summer
Vacation Church
School in 1988 along with
Mrs. Joy Love. Parishes of all Orthodox
jurisdictions in the Johnstown
area are invited to send their children each year. Mrs. Popp was succeeded by Dr. Louise Brudnak
as church school co-ordinator. We have
been blessed with excellent teachers, 10 of whom have received the National A.C.R.Y. Sunday
Church School
Teacher's Award over the years.
Realizing the need for
refurbishing, the Cathedral was closed to public worship for two months late in
2002 for extensive interior renovation that included refurbishing and
upholstering the pews, new carpet in the church, ceramic flooring in the
sanctuary, a new bell system, a unisex bathroom in the vestibule, new insulation, refurbishing of the stained glass windows,
and new rear entrance doors. All the building and renovation over the past
several years has been accomplished through the generosity of the parishioners
and organizations, and the Cathedral Parish is debt-free.
Pani
Anna (Popovich) Yurcisin fell asleep in the Lord on April 3, 2003.
Not long after, the Very Rev. Protopresbyter John Yurcisin, after 44
years of untiring and unforgettable pastoral service to the Cathedral, Seminary
and Diocese, and living in retirement as Pastor Emeritus, passed to eternity on
June 20, 2003 and was buried from the Cathedral on June 23. Eternal Memory!
When His Eminence, Metropolitan
Nicholas, in 2002 called on diocesan faithful to support the construction of
the new Saints Cyril and Methodios Church at Camp Nazareth, 85 Cathedral parishioners
stepped forward and offered their gifts which totaled more than $70,000.
It is to be noted that nine vocations
of priest-sons of the parish have served the Orthodox Church over the
years. They are Protopresbyter John
Duranko, Rev. Robert M. Radasky, + Very Rev. Charles W. Panchisin, Very Rev.
Thomas Blaschak, + Very Rev. John E. Stefanik, + Rev. James Stropko, and
Protopresbyter John R. Fedornock; two other vocations have served other
Orthodox jurisdictions: + Rev. Basil Buchovesky and + Rev. George Timko.
Also of memorable distinction are twenty-four daughters of the parish who
are married to clergy. They are: Pani
Betty Jean (Koslin) Baranik; Diaconissa Tamara (Evanisko) Benc; Pani Magdaline (Kuzmiak)
Blaschak; Pani Marie (Kerestesy)
Brancho; + Pani Deborah (Sandak)
Dahulich; + Pani Helen (Stropko)
Donovan; Pani Kerry (Gregory) Ganzy; +
Pani Pauline (Kesselak) Gido; Diaconissa Deborah (Laichak) Gulick; + Pani Dolores (Panchisin) Hazuda; Pani Eleanor (Blaschak) Herbert; Pani
Sharon (Maydak) Holowaty; Pani Dorothy (Gost) Hutnyan; Pani Andrea (Laichak) Kish; Pani Constance Ann (Evanisko) Miloro; Pani Patricia (Martich) Patrick; Pani Elizabeth (Fetsko) Radasky; Pani Magdaline (Laichak) Salley; + Pani Mary (Kulback) Salley; Pani Anna Marie (Fetsko) Slovesko; Pani Dorothy (Matchik)
Timko; Pani Michaelene (Fetsko)
Tomko; Pani Joan (Kerestesy) Wine;
and Pani Dolores (Rocha) Zuder. There are also at present nine panis (some of
them widows) who reside in Johnstown
and make the Cathedral their parish church.
A total of seven young women from the Cathedral A.C.R.Y. chapter #20
have been crowned "Miss A.C.R.Y." throughout the years. They are: + Dolores Panchisin (1954); Constance Evanisko (1966); Lucy Kindya (1967); Barbara Hlivko (1968);
Deborah Sapolich (1969); Tamara
Evanisko (1984): Kelly Ryan (1994); and two others have been crowned
Miss Junior A.C.R.Y.: Andrea Laichak (1979) and Stephanie Miloro (1987). Also numerous Cathedral chapter
members have been elected to the National Board over the years, including
Michael Gost (1954) and Nicholas timko (1969 who served as National
Presidents. Johnstown was the site of
the A.C.R.Y. Nationalo Conventions in 1939, 1965, 1984 and 1997. National Bowling Tournaments were also held here
in 1953, 1978 and 2005. The A.C.R.Y.
National Archives have been housed in Johnstown
since the early 1950's, and they have been administered by Donna Yarina who has
served for many years as Custodian of Properties.
In 2004, the year of the
Cathedral's 50th anniversary of Dedication, the original film of the
dedication ceremonies of May
30, 1954 was reproduced with an introduction by Metropolitan
Nicholas and concluding remarks by Father Miloro. The film has been transformed to DVD and Video format.
In April of 2004, Father Miloro
was appointed by Metropolitan Nicholas as Dean of the Johnstown Deanery. He serves in this capacity in addition to his
other responsibilities as Cathedral Pastor, Diocesan Chancellor, Seminary Dean
and Associate Editor of The Church
Messenger. He also sits on the board
of "Plan-It-For-Kids", an adoption/referral agency, the Greater Johnstown Orthodox Clergy Association, the National
A.C.R.Y., and is a past board member of the Johnstown
Day Care
Center and St. Sophia Orthodox Christian
Academy.
In 2006 an updated Cathedral
Directory was published.
For the second time in six
years, the Cathedral was closed to public worship from January through March
2008 for renovation. Elias Painting Inc.
was chosen for the work which included a complete painting/refinishing of the
Cathedral, new artwork and stenciling, porcelain wainscot to match the floor,
reguilding of candlebra and ecclesiastical appointments, and a new outdoor
Cross Shrine. The $100,000 renovation
was completed in time for Palm Sunday 2008.
In November 2008, the Cathedral
was featured in a hardbound edition of Domes and Spires, a publication of the Tribune Democrat which
featured the most beautiful churches of the Johnstown area.The Cathedral faithful and
officers are always co-operative with the programs and events sponsored by and
for the Parish and the Diocese. Great
effort has been expended by the parishioners over all these years of parish
existence to promote not only the daily work of a parish, but the many events
that have taken place in Johnstown for the Diocese. God bless them all - those present and those
already passed on to their eternal reward!
-Prepared by Protopresbyter Frank P. Miloro, May 2004 and updated
November 2008
