JOHNSTOWN, PA - [Diocesan Chancery] -- on Sunday, December 26, Hieromonk Nicholas (in the world, Murray Bogdasavich) of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist Hermitage, Combermere, Ontario fell asleep in the Lord. He was a son of the late Anthony and Frances (Churko) Bogdasavich and brother to Frank and Darryl (Kay). He will be sorely missed by the small community that gathered to pray at his hermitage, as well as by the parishioners of Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church in Ottawa, Ontario, especially the Kotantoulas family, with whom he shared a special bond.

Fr. Nicholas was born in Yorkton, Saskatchewan on August 18, 1935 to a Ukrainian Greek Catholic family and was raised in nearby Jedburgh. He entered the Congregation of St. Basil in 1955, making his monastic profession, and undertook his post-secondary studies in philosophy and theology with the Basilian Fathers. Read more...

 JOHNSTOWN, PA - [Diocesan Chancery] -- With profound sadness the Diocesan Chancery announces that Margaret Ferencz, the mother of Fr. Nicholas Ferencz, peacefully fell asleep in the Lord on Tuesday, December 21, 2021 in her own home, watched over by four of her eight children.

Margaret was born in Rankin in 1927. She and her husband George raised their two daughters and six sons in Elizabeth Township. After George passed in 1988, she moved to St. Petersburg, FL, near her younger brother Ray and his family. Well into her 80s, Margaret enjoyed traveling, going on cruises and tours, and visiting her children up north. She offered community service, visiting people in the hospital and the nursing home Read more...

JJOHNSTOWN, PA - [Diocesan Chancery] -- With profound sadness the Diocesan Chancery announces that +Archon John Halecky, Jr.  fell asleep in the Lord on Wednesday, December 22. John was a faithful member of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in  Elizabeth, NJ.

For twenty-five years Mr. Halecky was a member of the Diocesan Board of Trustees and Financial Secretary of the Diocese during the Episcopate of the late Bishop John R. Martin.  He was instrumental in establishing the Clergy Pension Fund, served on the Advisory Committee of the Monastery of the Annunciation in Tuxedo Park, NY, and was a recipient of the “Bohorodica” Award.  Read more...

Dear Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On this glorious Feast of the Nativity of Christ we celebrate a truly a wondrous event in which God, in His infinite and marvelous grace, became man bringing us enduring hope, newness of life, and eternal salvation. The Son of God, the Lord of Glory and King of kings who upholds the universe by His word of power, became man so that we human beings might be redeemed, renewed, united with Him, and become fellow citizens with the Saints and members of God’s kingdom.

The magnitude and depth of the event of the Nativity of Christ are impossible to grasp, but the message is clear and true. It is a message of grace, hope, and salvation to all humanity and to all the created order. Read more...

JOHNSTOWN, PA - [Diocesan Chancery] -- With profound sadness the Diocesan Chancery announces that + Very Rev. Protopresbyter Michael Polanichka reposed in the Lord, on December 20, 2021.

Born July 17,1936 in Scranton, PA to the late Nicholas and Susan (Chuvan) Polanichka.Proto. Michael entered the Diocesan Seminary of Christ the Savior in Johnstown, PA in September 1956 and graduated in June 1960.

On June 11, 1960 he married the former Eleanor Jean Hazuda in Nesquehoning, PA and they just celebrated their 61st Wedding anniversary in June 2021. His beloved wife, Pani Eleanor, who was his caregiver for the past 3 years passed away suddenly on November 21, 2021. Read more...