‘A Joyous Day’ as St. Vladimir Ukrainian Catholic Church reopens in Arnold after 2021 fire
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George Honchar of Carnegie said it was like “coming home” to attend the reopening services Sunday at St. Vladimir Ukrainian Catholic Church in Arnold.
“This is my Bubba’s church,” Honchar said. “We come every year for a reunion, and it’s only natural that we would celebrate this.”
The city’s only Catholic church, on the corner of Kenneth Avenue and McCandless Street, was destroyed by fire in December 2021. The 74-year-old building sustained more than $4 million in damages.
The reconstruction recognized the six immigrant families who started the parish, Honchar said.
“It’s beautiful the way they kept the shell of the original church,” he said.
Plans were designed by architect Walter Boykowycz, the man behind the Ukrainian Nationality Room inside Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning.
He suggested a downsized church that could be rebuilt for about $2 million. The original altar was salvaged as were the two bell towers. Connecting them is the mid-section of the church, demolished and transformed into an open-air courtyard with a fountain and landscaping.
“It’s a good feeling to be here,” Boykowycz said. “You want the church to be perfect.”
Sunday’s services saw a standing-room-only crowd that spilled into the courtyard. Ukrainian Catholic leaders from across the region helped mark the rededication of the building, beginning Saturday when they scrubbed the Holy Table for consecration. Festivities continued Sunday, when leaders blessed the walls and kissed the floors.
The Rev. Yaroslav Koval, pastor, helped people squeeze into the five rows of pews and find folding chairs inside the crowded space.
“Our new church is small but beautiful,” Koval said. “Thank you for sharing this joy with us. My dear parishioners, this new building is because of you.”
He recalled the night of the fire, when black smoke filled the neighborhood for blocks in every direction.
Firefighters were able to rescue many of the religious relics from inside, something Koval has called a miracle.
“The next day after the fire, you told me we have to rebuild,” he said. “We all have crosses to bear every day, but don’t be afraid. With a good attitude we can change the world.”
Parishioner Joan Swanderski of West Deer said she was raised in the church as a child but drifted away. She described herself as a fish out of water when she felt the urge to return.
Fellow parishioners have shepherded her, Swanderski said.
“My grandparents came from Ukraine but after gram died, we lost any connection to our home country,” she said. “My heart bounds when I come to church because I feel like I am home.”
Longtime member Julie Martin wasn’t surprised with the turnout this weekend.
“We’ve learned through this hardship that St. Vlad’s is like everyone’s church,” she said.
Martin recounted that a visitor to the church last week told Koval and others that he was among the many passersby the night of the fire to help shuttle relics from the burning building.
“There’s something very Arnold/New Ken about it,” Martin said. “Somehow, we became a church for all.
“When I arrived today, the sadness of it all just went away.”
Leading the service, Bishop Bohdan Danylo of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of St. Josaphat, addressed the large crowd, saying it was a blessing that the space seemed too small.
“It is a joyous day,” he said. “It’s no coincidence that your grandparents came to the shores of beautiful Arnold with nothing physical, just a love for their family, customs from a nation they left behind and a faith in Jesus.
“Church is in each of you,” Danylo said. “Even though the building was destroyed, the church exists today because of you. You are an anchor of faith in the community.”