Joseph Schmondiuk
Childhood, Youth, and Education
Joseph Schmondiuk was born on August 6, 1912, to Mykhailo and Maria Schmondiuk. His father was from the village of Torske in the Ternopil region and emigrated to the USA in 1909. His mother, Maria (née Bocia), was from Czechoslovakia. The family lived in Wall, Pennsylvania. When Joseph was 7 years old, his family was struck by tragedy - his parents and sister Maria died due to an influenza epidemic. The three brothers, Michael, Joseph, and Emil (who was only 3 years old), were left orphaned. The two older brothers were sent to the orphanage of the Basilian Sisters in Philadelphia, while the younger Emil was adopted.
In 1921, Michael and Joseph were transferred to St. Paul's (Latin) Orphanage in Carnegie, PA. They stayed there until 1925, when Bishop Constantine Bohachevsky organized a preparatory seminary in Philadelphia and took them in. Joseph began studying at St. Peter's Parish School, which is now located on 5th Street near the Cathedral of St. John Neumann. After finishing middle school, he studied for a year at the newly built St. Francis Xavier School, located near the Art Museum in Philadelphia. Joseph spent the last three years of high school at St. Joseph's Preparatory School, run by the Jesuits. He was one of 464 young boys who began their studies at the new campus between Girard and 18th Streets. Joseph graduated from high school in 1930.
At 18, Joseph went to Rome, where he lived at the Ukrainian College of St. Josaphat, studied philosophy at the Pontifical Angelicum University, and theology at the Pontifical University of Propaganda Fide (now Urbaniana). On March 29, 1936, Joseph Schmondiuk was ordained a priest, and in June, he completed his studies, receiving a licentiate in theology.
Priestly Service
After returning from Rome, 24-year-old Father Joseph began his ministry at the Parish of Sts. Peter and Paul in Aliquippa, PA. He served there for 6 years, nurturing the spiritual life of the community and rebuilding the parish house, which also became a social center and a school. After that, Fr. Joseph worked for a year at St. Josaphat Parish in Rochester, NY. From 1943 to 1948, he was the pastor of St. Nicholas Church in Passaic, NJ, where he developed the spiritual life of the parish and created a plan to pay off the church's mortgage.
Fr. Joseph then became the pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Hamtramck, MI. During his 8 years of ministry in Michigan, he organized the construction of a new school and parish
house. Throughout his 20 years of priestly service, Fr. Joseph also served as a diocesan consultant and a diocesan judge in the tribunal. In 1953, he received the title of Monsignor from the Pope, and on August 8, 1956, he was nominated as the auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia.
