Catholic Action

Catholic Action (Католицька акція; Katolytska aktsiia). The laity’s assistance in the apostolic work of the church hierarchy, channeled through Catholic organizations under the supervision of the church authorities. Catholic Action in Galicia grew to prominence in the 1930s. Its center was the General Institute of Catholic Action of the Greek Catholic province in Lviv, which consisted of the representatives of Catholic organizations such as the Obnova Society of Ukrainian Catholic Students, the Orly Catholic Association of Ukrainian Youth, and the Skala educational association. The general church assistant from the Greek Catholic episcopate was first Bishop Ivan Buchko and then Bishop Nykyta Budka. The president of the institute was M. Dzerovych, and its most active members were Ivan Babii, Vasyl Hlibovytsky, and Petro Isaiv. The institute published the quarterly Katolyts’ka aktsiia in 1934–9.

In Canada Catholic Action was founded in 1933 when the Catholic lay organizations the Ukrainian Catholic Brotherhood of Canada, Ukrainian Catholic Women's League of Canada, Ukrainian Catholic Youth, and Obnova Society of Ukrainian Catholic Students were formed. Its publication was the monthly Katolyts’ka aktsiia. In the United States of America the Association of Ukrainian Catholic Students and Obnova have active branches, and women’s organizations are active at the parish level. In Brazil the Institute of Women-Catechists has been active in educational and charity work since 1940.

In Germany Catholic Action was established in 1947, and in 1949 it encompassed all of Western Europe. Its publication was the weekly Khrystyians’kyi holos. The main organizations that belonged to Catholic Action were the Obnova Federation of Societies of Ukrainian Catholic Students and the Obnova Ukrainian Catholic Academic Alliance. The active leaders of Catholic Action in Western Europe were Ye. Pereima, M. Tomashivska, Roman Danylevych, and Volodymyr Yaniv.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]