| Rusyns (also referred to as Ruthenians,
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| | Schism between the Orthodox and Catholic
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| Ruthenes, Rusins, Carpatho-Rusyns, and
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| | churches in 1054. Many Rusyn churches are
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| Rusnaks) are a modern ethnic group that
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| | named after the Eastern Christian saints
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| speaks the Rusyn language and are
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| | Cyril and Methodius, who are often
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| descended from the minority of Ruthenians
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| | referred to as the "Apostles to the
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| who did not adopt a Ukrainian national
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| | Slavs."
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| identity in the nineteenth and early
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| | Historian Paul Robert Magocsi recorded
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| twentieth centuries. Because an
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| | that there were approximately 690,000
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| overwhelming majority of Ruthenians
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| | Carpatho-Rusyn church members in the
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| within Ukraine itself have adopted a
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| | United States, with 320,000 in the
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| Ukrainian identity, most modern
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| | largest Catholic affiliations, 270,000 in
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| self-declared Rusyns live outside
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| | the largest Orthodox affiliations, and
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| Ukraine. Thus, of the approximately 2
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| | 100,000 in various Protestant and other
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| million people claimed by Rusyn
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| | denominations.
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| organizations as being Rusyns, only
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| | Eastern Rite Catholics
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| 55,000 declare themselves as having this
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| | Many Rusyns are Eastern Catholics, who
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| nationality. The ethnic identity of
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| | since the Union of Brest in 1596 and the
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| Rusyns is therefore highly controversial,
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| | Uzhorod Union in 1646, are united with
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| with some researchers claiming a separate
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| | other Catholics under the spiritual
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| East Slavic ethnicity distinct from
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| | leadership of the Pope, but retain their
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| Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians,
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| | Old Slavonic liturgy and most of the
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| while others considering Rusyns to be a
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| | outward forms of the Greek or Eastern
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| subgroup of the Ukrainian nation. Some
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| | Orthodox Church.
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| parallels can be drawn with the
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| | The Rusyns of former Yugoslavia are
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| relationship of Moldovans to Romanians.
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| | organized under the Eparchy of Krizevci.
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| Location
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| | Eastern Orthodox Church
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| Rusyns have traditionally inhabited the
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| | Although originally associated with the
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| area of the Eastern Carpathian Mountains
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| | Orthodox Church of Constantinople, the
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| and still inhabit those areas. While
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| | affiliation of the Rusyn Orthodox Church
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| their homeland is often referred to as
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| | was adversely affected by the Communist
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| Carpathian Ruthenia, that area no longer
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| | revolution in Russia and the subsequent
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| exactly corresponds with the places
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| | Iron Curtain which split the Orthodox
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| inhabited by Rusyns. There are also
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| | diaspora from those living in the
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| resettled Rusyn communities located in
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| | ancestral homelands. A number of emigre
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| the Pannonian plain, as well as in parts
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| | communities have laid claim to continuing
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| of present day Serbia (especially in
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| | the Orthodox tradition of the
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| Vojvodina – see also Ethnic groups of
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| | pre-revolution church, while either
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| Vojvodina), as well as in present-day
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| | negating or minimizing the validity of
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| Croatia (in the region of Slavonia).
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| | the church organization operating under
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| Still other Rusyns migrated to the
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| | Communist authority. For example, the
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| northern regions of present-day Bosnia
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| | Orthodox Church in America (OCA) was
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| and Herzegovina.
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| | granted auto-cephalous (self-governing)
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| Many Rusyns also emigrated to the United
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| | status by the Moscow Patriarchate in
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| States and Canada, and now are able to
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| | 1970. Although approximately 25% of the
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| reconnect as a community with the advent
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| | OCA was Rusyn (referred to as
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| of the internet, voicing their concerns
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| | "Ruthenian") in the early 1980s, an
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| and trying to preserve their separate
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| | influx of Orthodox emigres from other
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| ethnic and cultural identity.
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| | nations and new converts wanting to
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| Religion
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| | connect with the "early" church have
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| When the Rusyns accepted Christianity
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| | lessened the impact of a particular Rusyn
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| (and who or what they worshiped before)
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| | emphasis in favor of a new American
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| is a source of some debate, but it
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| | Orthodoxy.
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| clearly occurred prior to the Great
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