Metropolitan Ambrose Senyshyn: 50th Anniversary of His repose in the Lord

September 10, 2026

September 11 marks 50 years since the passing of Metropolitan Ambrose Senyshyn to eternity. He was the first Eastern Catholic bishop ordained in North America and the second Ukrainian Metropolitan of Philadelphia. In this article, we would like to tell you about his life and activities, which were dedicated to our Church in the United States.

Bishop Ambrose was born on February 23, 1903, in Stary Sambir to Tymotej and Maria, née Petrus’ka. He first received his education in a public school in his town, then at a gymnasium in Lviv. At age 20, young Andriy Senyshyn entered the order of St. Basil the Great and began his novitiate in Krekhiv. Then he took the monastic name Ambrose. In 1925, after his novitiate, he continued his studies in Lavriv, Dobromyl, and Krystynopil, receiving a philosophical and theological education. On August 23, 1931, Bishop Josaphat Kotsylovsky ordained 28-year-old Ambrose as a priest in Krechiv. After that, the young priest went to Warsaw, where he served as a parochial vicar at the Basilian parish and continued his studies.

In 1933, Father Ambrose left Warsaw and went to the USA to begin his missionary service at the parish of St. Nicholas in Chicago, IL. Until 1937, he served as a parochial vicar; after that, he became pastor and hegumen of the Basilian monastery there. In 1941, Fr. Ambrose organized the National Eucharistic Congress of the Eastern Rites at the parish of St. Nicholas. In 1942, he was named auxiliary bishop to Bishop Constantine Bohachevsky and ordained on October 22 at St. Nicholas Church in Chicago. Bishop Constantine was the main consecrator, and Bishop Vasyl Ladyka of Canada and Bishop Vasyl Takach of the Byzantine Exarchate were the co-consecrators.

After that, the new bishop moved to Stamford, CT. As an auxiliary bishop from 1942 to 1956, he paid a lot of attention to organizing parish organizations, especially the Marian Sodalities and altar servers. To help these communities get to know groups from other parishes, he organized congresses in Stamford (of the Marian sodalities in 1943, 1953, 1956 and of the altar servers in 1953, 1956, 1959), where young people came together from their parishes and had a time for acquaintance, prayer and formation as Ukrainian Greek Catholics. From 1943 to 1956, Bishop Ambrose also served as president of the high school and college in Stamford.

In 1944, Bishop Ambrose, together with Bishop Constantine, founded the monastic order of the Missionary Sisters of the Mother of God. The charism of this order is teaching and educational activities, and the dissemination of information about our rite. With the help of the missionary sisters and their hegumena, Mother Andrea Spikula, Bishop Senyshyn published the prayer book “Christ With Us” and the collection of molebens “We Magnify Thee”. He also published the theological journal “The Ark”, which was published from 1945 to 1955 and focused on sharing information about our Church and the rite in English. With the help of the Missionary Sisters, Bishop Ambrose also published records with recordings of our services for male and mixed choirs (Divine Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great, Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, Resurrection Matins and others) and printed icons of Christ, the Mother of God, and some saints in the Byzantine style. All of these activities show Bishop Ambrose’s great desire to share our rite with Americans as well as his desire to preserve the love for it among our faithful.

In the second half of the 1940s, Bishop Senyshyn headed the Ukrainian Catholic Relief Committee for Refugees. This committee helped Ukrainians from refugee camps in Germany come to the United States and start a new life here. Over the years, more than 40,000 Ukrainians came to the United States with the help of this committee.

In 1956, the Stamford Exarchate was established, centered in Stamford, CT, and Bishop Senyshyn headed it. Two years later, this exarchate was elevated to the dignity of an eparchy. So, for the next three years, Bishop Ambrose formed and developed this new church structure.

In 1961, a major change occurred in the life of Bishop Senyshyn - after the death of Metropolitan Constantine Bohachevsky, he was elected the new metropolitan of the Philadelphia Archeparchy. For the next almost 16 years, he led it and built its parishes and communities. From 1962 to 1965, Bishop Ambrose participated in the Second Vatican Council and was a member of the commission that prepared and issued the decree “On the Eastern Catholic Churches”. At the same time, Metropolitan Senyshyn was implementing another project - the construction of the new Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Philadelphia. The new cathedral, designed by Julian Jastremsky and consecrated in October 1966, was built in the neo-Byzantine style and became the largest Eastern Catholic cathedral in North America.

In addition to the construction of the cathedral on Franklin Street, a hall with a cafeteria was also built there, which was used by the parish school and the Ascension Minor Homes for elderly people. In addition to the building projects in Philadelphia, Bishop Senyshyn also facilitated the building of many new churches and schools throughout the Archeparchy.

In December 1965, Bishop Senyshyn founded the Center for Ukrainian Studies at the seminary in Washington, D.C. Professor Roman Smal-Stotsky headed it. The center aimed to bring together Ukrainian professors and scholars in Washington who could lecture seminary students in Ukrainian and CUA students in English on Ukrainian and Slavic studies. Thus, Bishop Ambrose Senyshyn wanted future priests, most of whom were born in the United States, to have, in addition to their theological formation, a deep knowledge and understanding of Ukrainian history and culture and to be able to speak about it in the USA. This center was quite active until 1969.

On May 13, 1965, Pope Paul VI named Bishop Ambrose an Assistant to the Papal Throne. This appointment was a great honor from the Roman See. In the second half of the 1960s, Metropolitan Senyshyn participated in several synods of bishops convened by Pope Paul VI, together with Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk of Winnipeg and His Beatitude Patriarch Josyf Slipy. He also received Bishop Slipyj during his two visits to the United States in 1968 and 1973. Although Bishop Ambrose was the first to visit Josyf Slipyj after his release from the Siberian exile, they did not have a very close relationship. Perhaps this was due to different ecclesiological visions of the life of our Church in the diaspora, or perhaps for some other reasons that we do not know.

In the last year of his life, Metropolitan Senyshyn was ill and could no longer fully care for the Archeparchy. Therefore, Bishop Basil Losten was its administrator, starting in June 1976. In his final years, the Missionary Sisters of the Mother of God cared for the Metropolitan Senyshyn. Bishop Ambrose died in Philadelphia on September 11, 1976, and was buried in the crypt of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, which he built. Patriarch Josyf Slipyj came to Philadelphia and led the funeral services for Metropolitan Ambrose Senyshyn.

Marta Bohachevsky-Chomiak, in her book about Bishop Bohachevsky, wrote about Bishop Ambrose: “The American-born, Ukrainian faithful saw Senyshyn as one of their own. He mixed with people, had a sense of camaraderie with his American neighbors, got along well with the Irish clergy, spoke colloquial English, and even used the informal "you" (ty) liberally in Ukrainian. […] Senyshyn helped Bohachevsky expand contacts with Roman Catholics and disseminate information about the Ukrainian Catholic Church. He understood the value of outreach, readily wrote short informative brochures, and felt comfortable among crowds.” This quotation

Today, on the 50th anniversary of Metropolitan Senyshyn’s passing into eternity, let us remember him in our prayers. Memory eternal!