The Slovak Greek Catholic Church, or The Slovak Byzantine Catholic Church, is a Byzantine Rite church of the Roman Catholic Church. Accoding to statics in 2005 from the CNEWA, members of The Church were approximately 225,000.
History
Since the Union of Užhorod in 1646 was unanimously accepted in the terrritory that is curently estern Slovakia, The history of Slovak Greek Catholic Church had been intertwined with the Ruthenian Catholic Church for centuries.
At the end of World War I, most Greek Catholic Ruthenians and Slovaks were included within the territory of Czechoslovakia, including two dioceses, Prešov and Mukacěvo. During the inter-World War period, a significant movement back towards Orthodoxy took place among these Greek Catholics. Created on September 22, 1818, the diocese of Prešov was abolished in 1937 from the jurisdiction of the Hungarian primate and immediately subject to the Holy See.
After World War II, the diocese of Mukačevo in Transcarpathia was annexed by the Soviet Union. Then, the diocese of Prešov included all the Greek Catholics that remained in Czechoslovakia.
After the communist in Czechoslavakia seized the country in April 1950, a "fake" synod was convoked at Prešov where five priests and a number of laymen signed document declaring that the union with Rome was disbanded and asking to be received into the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, later the Othodox Church of Czechoslovakia. Greek Catholic Bishop Gojdič of Prešov and auxilliary were imprisoned and killed in 1960.
When former Greek Catholic parishes were allowed to return to Catholicism under the Prague Spring presided over by Alexander Dubcek, the situation persisted until 1968. Of 292 parishes involved, 205 voted for returning to communion with Rome. This was one of the few Dubček's reforms that survived the Soviet invasion of 1968. However, most of their church buildings remained in the hands of Czechoslovakia Orthodox Church.
After the communist government in Czechoslavakia fell down in 1991 and Czechoslovakia was divided into two countries, Czech and Slovakia, most of these had been returned to Slovak Greek Catholic Church by 1993. In 1997, Pope John Paul II created an Apostolic Exarchate of Košice.
Abroad
In North America, the Slovak Greek Catholics are not distinguished from the Ruthenians. Nontheless, they have a diocese in Canada, The Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto, whereas there is no diocese in the USA.