Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate Sighetu Marmației
The Ukrainian Orthodox Vicariate Sighetu Marmaţiei is a vicariate of the Romanian Orthodox Church serving Eastern Orthodox believers from Romania's Ukrainian community.
Most of Romania's Ukrainians belonged to the Greek-Catholic Church until the newly established Communist regime outlawed it in 1948. Following their conversion to Orthodoxy, they were organised into a vicariate headquartered at Sighetu Marmaţiei, including parishes in Maramureş, Transylvania, Crişana and the Banat. In 1952, the vicariate became a Ukrainian archpriest's district, headquartered at Poienile de sub Munte and governed by the Diocese of Cluj. The district continued to function in this manner until 1990, receiving annual financial contributions from the Romanian Patriarchate.
After the 1989 fall of the Communist regime, the vicariate was re-established, again directed from Sighetu Marmaţiei and with two archpriest's districts, there and at Lugoj. As of 2008, there were 33 parishes operating in 33 church buildings, 27 priests, one nunnery at Rona de Sus, and approximately 53,300 members. The vicariate is under the Romanian Orthodox Church's jurisdiction, but is administratively autonomous. Unlike in the rest of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Julian calendar is used.
The Lugoj district was established in November 1990, following efforts by the local Ukrainian cultural organization. Initially, there were six parishes; later, the one at Copăcele reverted to the ordinary structure of the Romanian Orthodox Church, but nine other parishes were added, the total reaching fourteen by 2005. The ones at Criciova, Cornuţel and Zorile operate in pre-existing churches, while the remainder are new buildings, except the one at Remetea Mică, which holds services in the local Roman Catholic church.
