Bishop Joseph (Zhuk) sermons and notes

Biographical / Historical

Bishop Joseph (born Joseph Zhuk, Йосиф Жук, Polish: Żuk - rendered in English as Zuk) was the first bishop of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of America. He was born December 24, 1872 in the village of Pidkamin' in Brody county of the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia (now Ukraine). He completed the Theological Seminary in L'viv, was ordained a priest in 1899 and served as secretary to then Bishop of Stanyslaviv (now Ivano-Frankivs'k) Andrei Sheptyts'kyi. He obtained a doctorate in theology from Innsbruck University. He was named prefect of the Greek Catholic theological seminary in L'viv in 1902, then promoted to be its rector in 1904. He was named in 1910 by Pope Pius X to be Apostolic Visitator to Greek Catholic parishes in Bosnia, following which he served as rector of St. Barbara's Church in Vienna, Austria from 1913 to 1920. He emigrated to the United States by way of Canada in 1921, and served as priest at the Greek Catholic parishes in Syracuse NY, Passaic NJ, Allentown PA, McAdoo PA, and Carnegie PA. In 1930, he severed connection to the eparchy of Bp. Constantine Bohachevs'kyi, and was elected bishop of the newly-formed Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America by the 1931 Clergy Sobor in New York. He was ordained bishop on September 25, 1932 despite already apparent illness. As his condition worsened, he was admitted to the sanatorium in Dennisville, NJ, then moved to Florida in January 1934, where he died on February 23, 1934 in St. Petersburg.

[reference: Obituary. Ukrains'kyi Vistnyk, vol. VI, no. 3 (March, 1934). Carteret, NJ]

Scope and Contents

Contains a notebook with holograph sermons, as well as approximately 250 loose sheets of 3 3/8" x 4 1/8" paper with short notes, primarily on religious topics.

File Plan

Separated from accession 2012.6.1. Originally housed in tall cabinet "E", shelf 1 in a small cardboard box labeled "Єп. Йосиф /Жук/ Проповіді, записки", "31A". Inside was an envelope labeled "Проповіді Єпископа Йосифа Жука й нотатки різні до студій його, написані власноручно єпископом", "N953" containing the notebook with sermons, as well as an envelope with a pre-printed return address of "Ukrainian Orthodox Word/Box 2033, Noble Station/Bridgeport, Conn." containing the notes.

Status of materials

These materials belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, and are on deposit with the Ukrainian History and Education Center for processing, preservation, and access.