CHICAGO – Organizers of a campaign to sustain the long-term viability of the St. Nicholas Eparchy of Ukrainian Catholic Church have announced that fundraising efforts for the project have surpassed $3 million. They added that considerable progress has also been made in the restoration of the 115-year-old cathedral in the city’s Ukrainian village.
The “Building Our Faith Together, in Unity and with Gratitude” capital campaign of the St. Nicholas Eparchy began nearly three years ago on May 12, 2019. Funds from the campaign are also being used to develop Eparchial administrative resources and to seed an endowment fund to better support eparchial parishes in financial need.
Given the magnitude of the cathedral restoration, the project has been divided into several stages. In December, officials said they completed the second stage of the project that focused on the entrance to the cathedral, the roof and domes above. The first stage, completed in late-2020, addressed the most urgent issues in the roof and the dome above the sanctuary. The structural issues have been resolved, project officials said.
The third stage of the project will begin in May and it will focus on the central portion of the cathedral. This is the most complex section of the restoration, as it includes the very large main dome and the eight remaining smaller domes.
Project officials anticipate that the total cost of the restoration will require an additional $2,650,000 above and beyond the total raised to-date. In addition to the fundraising, the campaign is pursuing grants, organizing events and employing other new fundraising channels of support.
The campaign has implemented several innovative programs, which have been very helpful in stimulating additional support. One of them is the Cathedral Dome and Cross Naming Opportunities Program. It encourages support for the restoration of the cathedral and at the same time creates an opportunity for a lasting legacy in memory of family and loved ones of the donors.
At the moment, all 13 crosses and 11 of the 13 domes have been sponsored. Once that fundraising effort is completed, officials will then launch the Cathedral Stained-Glass Opportunities Program, which is expected to begin later this year.
Several generous anonymous donors have established a Cathedral Matching Grant Program. These donors have committed to donate $250,000 in matching funds if the campaign raises $500,000 in non-sponsorship donations by April 1, 2023.
Bishop Benedict Aleksiychuk of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparch of Chicago and the leadership of the Capital Campaign project said they are committed to achieving all three goals of the campaign, namely: completing the cathedral restoration, supporting parishes in financial need and developing administrative and educational cparchial resources.
The Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of St. Nicholas is a community of faithful from 43 parishes, missions and monasteries in the United States, ranging from Michigan to California and Alaska.
The cathedral has been the preeminent edifice and place-of-worship for the Ukrainian community in Chicago. Some six generations of Ukrainian Americans have worshipped in the cathedral, which has helped develop numerous new Ukrainian Catholic parishes throughout the western United States.
As Ukrainians built and developed their cathedral and their churches, members of the baby-boomer generation and their children answered the call to be stewards and champions of the edifice in its time of critical need, and by extension stewards and champions of their collective faith.
Organizers of the fundraising campaign said that the community needs to respond boldly and adequately, or, in the case of the cathedral, they may run the risk of potentially losing the more than 115-year-structure, which is a visible symbol of the proud history of Ukrainian Catholics in America.
Campaign organizers expressed thanks to all of the individuals who supported the campaign with prayers and financial donations.
Readers who are interested in participating in any of the campaign programs or who would like to make a donation can visit the following website: www.chicagougcc.org, or they may contact Mariya Kokor at mariya.kokor@esnucc.org or Oleh Skubiak at o.skubiak@icloud.com.