title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Established and occupied as an agricultural community until the 1940s, Lafayette became a center of the oil and natural gas industry in Louisiana. In addition, the city and its metropolitan area became major centers for technology, health care and social services, aerospace, banking and retail from the latter 20th- and early 21st centuries. As of 2021, the consolidated city–parish's top employers have been the Lafayette Parish School System, Lafayette General Health, Wood Group Production Services, Lafayette Consolidated Government, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, WHC, Inc., Walmart, Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center, Schlumberger, and Stuller, Inc. The University of Louisiana System's other institutions and its Lafayette campus have contributed to a $10.9 billion impact on the state's economy. As one of the primary employers in Lafayette, the local university has made a statewide impact of $379 million in 2015.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Prominent corporations with headquarters or a large presence in Lafayette have included or currently include Albertsons, Amazon, Brookshire Grocery Company, CGI, First Horizon Bank, JP Morgan Chase, LUSFiber, the Ochsner Health System, Petroleum Helicopters International, Perficient, and Rouses Markets. Among these corporations, the Tennessee-based First Horizon Bank absorbed IberiaBank (a former Louisiana-based banking institution) in 2020. Other notable corporations stimulating the city and metropolitan economies have been Lowe's, Costco, and various national retail and department stores in the Mall of Acadiana.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Ranking as one of the best places to retire in Louisiana according to "Forbes" in 2018, Lafayette was also ranked one of the best places for businesses and careers in 2019; according to "Forbes", it was #25 in the cost of doing business, #200 in job growth, and #175 in education nationwide. Per "U.S. News & World Report", its cost of living has contributed to it being ranked as the second best place to live in Louisiana.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Located in Acadiana, Lafayette is a diverse city with a large and growing metropolitan population as of 2015. The Lafayette metropolitan area has a large Louisiana Creole, Cajun, and substantial foreign-born population; an estimated 14,676 Lafayettiens were foreign-born residents in 2019. Additionally, more than 36% of foreigners came from Asia from 2014 to 2019.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Many annual events celebrate the diverse cultures of Lafayette. Notable cultural gatherings have included the Festivals Acadiens et Créoles, Festival International de Louisiane, Boudin Cookoff and Bacon Fest, the Cajun Heartland State Fair, and Le Festival de Mardi Gras à Lafayette. Residents also celebrate their cultural identities through visiting Acadian Village or Vermilionville Historic Village. Highly regarded for its diverse food and restaurant culture, Lafayette has been regarded as having the fourth-most restaurants per capita in Louisiana since 2015.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Home to the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra and Conservatory of Music, Chorale Acadienne, Lafayette Ballet Theatre and Dance Conservatory, the Lafayette Concert Band, and Performing Arts Society of Acadiana; as well as the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, Acadiana Center for the Arts and Heymann Performing Arts Center, Lafayette has hosted Tyler Perry's "Madea's Farewell" play in 2019.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: The 2018 television film, "The Christmas Contract", set in Lafayette, features many Cajun Christmas customs. In the story line, Jolie Guidry (Hilarie Burton) dreads returning to her home town when she learns that her former boyfriend, Foster Broussard (Hunter Burke) will be present at social gatherings with his new love interest. Jolie persuades Jack (Robert Buckley) to be her "contracted" escort in Lafayette. Then romance blossoms between Jolie and Jack. Bruce Boxleitner plays Jolie's father, Tim.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Lafayette is home to the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, the athletic teams of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Between 1995 and 2005, Lafayette was home to the Louisiana IceGators ECHL hockey team. In 2009, the IceGators returned as a member of the Southern Professional Hockey League until 2016. Also from 2009 to 2012, Lafayette was home to the Lafayette Wildcatters of the Southern Indoor Football League. It also became home to the Lafayette Bayou Bulls, a semipro football program started in 2003. The Lafayette SwampCats (1997–1999) and Lafayette Swamp Cats (2000–2004) soccer teams played in the city. The Cajun Soccer Club of the Gulf Coast Premier League was founded in 2013; Louisiana Krewe FC played in the Gulf Coast Premier League before joining USL League Two for its 2022 season.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: The Lafayette area is home to multiple sports venues: Blackham Coliseum, Cajundome, Cajun Field, Earl K. Long Gymnasium, Evangeline Downs, and Planet Ice Skating and Hockey Arena.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Lafayette was home to minor-league baseball teams in various seasons from 1907 to 2000. Lafayette was an affiliate of the St. Louis Browns 1936–1941, Chicago Cubs (1955–1957) and San Francisco Giants (1975–1976). The Lafayette Browns (1907), Lafayette Hubs (1920), Lafayette White Sox (1934–1942), Lafayette Bulls (1948–1953), Lafayette Oilers (1954–1957), Lafayette Drillers (1975–1976) and Bayou Bullfrogs (1998–2000) all played in Lafayette. The teams were members of the Gulf Coast League (1907), Louisiana State League (1920), Evangeline League (1934–1942, 1948–1957), Texas League (1975–1976) and Texas-Louisiana League (1998–2000). Lafayette teams played at Parkdale Park (1934–1942), Clark Field (1945–1957, 1975–1976) and Tigue Moore Field (1998–2000).


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Lafayette has a consolidated city–parish government, known as the Lafayette Consolidated Government; parish voters agreed to consolidation of the city and parish governments in 1996. Lafayette's chief executive was initially called the city-parish president, but is now known as the mayor-president for the Lafayette Consolidated Government. Republican Josh Guillory was elected to this office most recently.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: The consolidation of the city and parish has been the subject of continuous public debate over the years. In 2011, a charter commission recommended deconsolidation, though parish voters rejected the recommendation. In 2018, voters separated the single city–parish council into a city council to represent the city of Lafayette and a parish council to represent Lafayette Parish. The mayor-president is still elected parishwide. In 2021, the city council passed a resolution calling for another charter commission to look at amendments to the charter and, if necessary, deconsolidation. The Lafayette Parish Council did not agree to the charter commission proposal. Public works and other services, such as land use and plat review, are operated by the Lafayette Consolidated Government to serve the city of Lafayette and unincorporated areas of Lafayette Parish, and by contract some of the area municipalities. Zoning rules apply only within the city and unincorporated areas of Lafayette Parish.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Some neighboring municipalities have adopted their own planning and zoning protocols. The suburban and rural cities and towns maintain independent city councils, local executives, police and fire departments, and other public services. The LPSS operates independently of any municipality, and its jurisdiction is coterminous with Lafayette Parish.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Lafayette is home to a regional office of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, and the headquarters of the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana, the state agency that oversees preservation and documentation of Louisiana French for tourism, economic development, culture, education, and the development of international relations with other Francophone regions and countries.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: The city of Lafayette is primarily served by the Lafayette Police Department, though the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office, Lafayette City Marshal, and University of Louisiana Police Department maintain jurisdiction throughout the city and surrounding area. Following nationwide COVID-19 trends from 2019 to 2020, Lafayette has experienced a rise in violent crimes per the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In 2020, the city experienced 712 violent crimes up from 664 in 2019; according to a professor of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, violent crime was decreasing prior to the pandemic. In 2018 the city experienced 9 homicides, and 17 in 2020; for comparison, there were 195 homicides in New Orleans in 2020, and 100 in Baton Rouge. Altogether, Lafayette ranked as the 20th safest city overall in Louisiana, and the safest of Louisiana's four largest municipalities in 2021.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Lafayette's major daily newspaper is "The Daily Advertiser", owned by Gannett (publishers of "USA Today"). Established in 1865 as the "Weekly Advertiser", it purchased the local alternative paper, "The Times of Acadiana" in 1998. Other prominent newspapers in the Lafayette area include "Acadiana Profile", Baton Rouge-based "The Advocate" and its local paper "The Acadiana Advocate", "The Independent", and UL-based "The Vermilion". "The Current" is a non-profit online news organization that has published since 2017.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Licensing more than 22 FM and AM radio stations in its metropolitan area, Lafayette includes Valcour Records and ML1 Records in its metropolis. Major television stations include KATC 3 (ABC), KLFY-TV (CBS), KLAF-LD (NBC), KADN-TV (Fox), and KLPB-TV (PBS). Other major stations serving the Lafayette area include Alexandria's KALB-TV (CBS and NBC), Baton Rouge's WBRZ (ABC), WAFB (CBS), WGMB-TV (Fox), WVLA-TV (NBC), and Lake Charles' KPLC-TV (NBC). According to Nielsen Media Research, the Lafayette television market was the 123rd largest in the United States as of 2019.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Lafayette Parish School System is the largest primary and secondary education system for Lafayette and its metropolitan area. Covering the whole of Lafayette Parish, it has 45 schools: 25 elementary schools, 12 middle schools, and eight high schools. The Lafayette Parish School System offers nine career academies at the high-school level, school curricula designed to prepare students in certain career fields. Of note among the schools in this system are Lafayette High School and Acadiana High School, its two largest high schools by enrollment.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: A majority of the area's private parochial, K-12 schools are operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette in Louisiana.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Its university, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, is the flagship university for the University of Louisiana System; as a national research institution and home to more than 18,000 students, over 100 programs, and the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, it is the second-largest university in the state behind Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Attempting unsuccessfully to change its name to the "University of Louisiana" previously, the university's moniker as "Louisiana" became points of contention, and the community colloquially refers to the institution as the University of Louisiana, dropping "Lafayette" from the name.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: One of the newest college systems in Louisiana, South Louisiana Community College, is headquartered in Lafayette. South Louisiana Community College partnered with Acadian Ambulance to form the National EMS Academy, which offers EMT-Basic and EMT-Paramedic certification. This community college is part of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. Louisiana Technical College (Lafayette campus) is part of the Louisiana Technical College System, which in turn is part of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. It offers associate degrees in several fields. It is a vocational school that offers a few bachelor's-degree programs, many associate-degree programs, and a few diploma programs. Additionally, Lafayette is also home to the Lafayette campus of the Academy of Interactive Entertainment, a technical college that specializes in video game programming, art and animation, and SFX.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Lafayette is home to the Louisiana Army National Guard headquarters of the 256th Infantry Brigade, a military unit of more than 3,000 soldiers. The unit served in Iraq in 2004–2005. The brigade was deployed again in January 2010. Until 2014, Lafayette was also home to the United States Marine Corps Reserve Unit, F. Co. Anti-Terrorism Battalion commanded by Captain Cole Clements. This unit went on several deployments, many related to the Iraq War. In 2014, F. Co. Anti-Terrorism Battalion was decommissioned, to be replaced with H&S Co. Det. 4 4th Tanks Tow and Scouts, 4th MARDIV.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Lafayette Regional Airport—located on U.S. Highway 90 (future Interstate 49), on the southeast side of the city with daily scheduled passenger airline services nonstop to Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and effective April 2, 2021 to Charlotte—is the primary airport for Acadiana. Charter services also depart Lafayette Regional as well as helicopter flights and cargo jets. A new airline passenger terminal at the Lafayette airport opened on January 20, 2022.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: Alongside its aerial transportation methods, Interstate 10 and Interstate 49 are the primary highways, with a passenger rail. The Amtrak "Sunset Limited" offers service three days a week from New Orleans and Los Angeles, California with selected stops in Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Connections are available in New Orleans to Chicago and to the East Coast via Atlanta. Service eastward to Orlando, Florida remains suspended in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Greyhound also operates a station downtown on Lee Avenue with destinations east and west on I-10, north on I-49 and southeast on U.S. Hwy 90. The Lafayette Transit System (formerly City of Lafayette Transit (COLT)) provides bus service; public transportation is provided only within Lafayette's city limits.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: There are certain areas within the city of Lafayette dedicated to growing into a bicycle-friendly community. The Lafayette MPO Bicycle Subcommittee meet once a month and has developed long-term goals for bicycling in the area. BikeLafayette is the area's bicycle advocacy organization which is very active in promoting bicycle awareness, safety, and education in Acadiana. TRAIL is an organization that promotes bicycling, canoeing, and pedestrian activities. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette has installed an off-road paved bicycle path beginning at its Horticultural Center on Johnston Street extending up Cajundome Boulevard to Eraste Landry Road. A number of out of use bicycle/pedestrian sidewalk paths remain from the 1970s and 1980s but are unsigned. A recreational trail extending from Downtown Lafayette into the Cypress Island region of Saint Martin Parish is under development. This path will connect neighboring Breaux Bridge and Saint Martinville with Lafayette.


title: Lafayette, Louisiana

text: U.S. Route 90 (co-signed with Evangeline Thruway, Mudd Avenue and Cameron Street within the city limits) and U.S. Route 167 (co-signed with I-49, Evangeline Thruway and Johnston Street). Ambassador Caffery Parkway, named for Jefferson Caffery, serves as a partial loop connecting I-10 at Exit 100 on the west and U.S. 90 on the south. Other arterial roads include Verot School Road (LA 339), West Congress Street, Kaliste Saloom Road (LA 3095), Ridge Road, Carmel Drive/Breaux Bridge Highway (LA 94), University Avenue (LA 182), Pinhook Road (LA 182), Camellia Boulevard, Guilbeau Road, Moss Street, Willow Street, Louisiana Avenue, Pont Des Mouton Road, Eraste Landry Road, and South College Road.


title: Clint Barton (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Clinton Francis Barton, more commonly known as Clint Barton, is a fictional character portrayed by Jeremy Renner in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise—based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name—commonly by his alias, Hawkeye. Barton is depicted as an expert marksman, archer and hand-to-hand combatant, with his preferred weapon being a recurve bow. Initially an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Barton is recruited by Steve Rogers and becomes a founding member of the Avengers. After Barton's family is decimated by Thanos, he becomes a vigilante and violently dismantles organized crime as Ronin until he and his allies revive those lost during the Blip. Despite his attempt to retire, Barton's time as Ronin causes continued conflicts with various elements of organized crime and he takes in a protégé named Kate Bishop.


text: Barton's first appearance was a brief cameo in "Thor" (2011), but he became a central figure of the MCU, appearing in six films as of 2022 and has the lead role in the miniseries "Hawkeye" (2021).


text: Alternate versions of Barton from within the multiverse also appear in the animated series "What If...?" (2021), with Renner reprising the role.


text: Barton, with the alter ego of Hawkeye, was first introduced in Marvel comic books as a reluctant villain, in "Tales of Suspense" #57 (September 1964). After two more appearances as a villain in "Tales of Suspense" #60 and #64 (December 1964 and April 1965), Hawkeye joined the ranks of the Avengers in "Avengers" #16 (May 1965). He then became a perennial member of the team.


text: In the mid-2000s, Kevin Feige realized that Marvel still owned the rights to the core members of the Avengers, which included Barton. Feige, a self-professed "fanboy", envisioned creating a shared universe just as creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had done with their comic books in the early 1960s. After initially offering the role of Barton to Jensen Ackles, who had auditioned for the part of Captain America, Marvel hired Jeremy Renner to portray the character on screen.


text: Much of Clint's background and characterization in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was inspired by his Ultimate Marvel incarnation, particularly him being a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and secretly having a wife and three children. His origin story in Earth-616 of him being a circus performer and former criminal trained by Swordsman is not included, though several elements of this version are implemented such as him becoming Ronin and eventually requiring hearing aids. His story and characterization in the "Hawkeye" television series were primarily influenced by Matt Fraction's 2012 comic run with the character.


text: Barton, working as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, is sent to kill Natasha Romanoff, but instead recruits her, with the pair becoming close friends and serving on various missions together, including one in Budapest in which Romanoff attempts to kill General Dreykov. At some point, Nick Fury assists Barton in setting up a safehouse for his family on a farm in Missouri.


text: In 2010, Barton is sent on a mission in New Mexico, where he arms himself with a compound bow, preparing to kill Thor from retrieving Mjolnir but chooses not to attack after watching Thor fail to lift the hammer.


text: In 2012, Barton is working at a remote S.H.I.E.L.D. research facility with Fury when Loki arrives and uses his scepter to put Barton under mind control and steal the Tesseract. They travel to Stuttgart, where Barton steals iridium needed to stabilize the Tesseract's power while Loki causes a distraction. Loki allows himself to be captured and taken to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, which Barton attacks with other mind controlled agents. Aboard the Helicarrier, Barton fights Romanoff, who knocks him out, breaking Loki's control. Romanoff helps him recover. After Steve Rogers recruits him, Barton becomes a founding member of the Avengers with Rogers, Romanoff, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and Thor. He participates in the Battle of New York against the alien army of the Chitauri. Barton later witnesses Loki's defeat and afterwards, he and Romanoff drive off together.


text: In 2015, Barton and the Avengers attack a Hydra facility in Sokovia in an effort to retrieve Loki's scepter. However, Barton is seriously injured by Pietro Maximoff and a Hydra weapon, but is healed by Dr. Helen Cho at the Avengers Tower. Barton attends the Avengers' celebratory party, where he is introduced to James Rhodes and Sam Wilson, and tries and fails to lift Mjolnir. Barton witnesses Ultron's first attack and his escape. In Johannesburg, Barton and the Avengers track Ultron and try to stop him, but all, except Barton, are enthralled by Wanda Maximoff's mind warping technique. Barton takes the defeated Avengers to his safe house where it is revealed that he has a pregnant wife named Laura and children named Cooper and Lila. There, Fury arrives and motivates the team to assemble and stop Ultron.


text: Barton, Romanoff, and Rogers travel to Seoul to stop Ultron from uploading his network into a vibranium body powered by the Mind Stone. They succeed, and Barton transports the sentient body back to the Avengers Tower. He also tracks a captured Romanoff's signal in Sokovia. After Vision is awakened, the Avengers return to Sokovia to stop Ultron. There, Barton reunites with Romanoff, participates in the battle against Ultron, convinces Wanda to become an Avenger, and is saved by Pietro who sacrifices his life to shield Barton and a Sokovian child from gunfire. After the battle, Barton goes into retirement and returns home, where he and Laura name their newborn son Nathaniel Pietro Barton, in honor of Romanoff and Pietro.


text: In 2016, Barton returns from retirement to help Rogers in his opposition to United Nations control of the Avengers via the Sokovia Accords. He goes to the Avengers Compound to retrieve Maximoff, but is confronted by Vision, until Maximoff incapacitates him. Barton and Maximoff recruit Scott Lang and travel to the Leipzig/Halle airport in Germany to join Rogers, Wilson, and Bucky Barnes. However, they are intercepted by Stark's team consisting of Rhodes, Romanoff, Peter Parker, T'Challa, and Vision. After Rogers and Barnes escape, Barton is among those captured and imprisoned in the Raft. When Stark visits the facility, Barton openly berates him. Later, Rogers breaks him, Lang, Wilson, and Maximoff out, and he and Lang negotiate deals with the U.S. government in accordance with the accords to receive a term of house arrest instead.


text: In 2018, Barton, still on house arrest, enjoys a picnic with his family, but is caught off-guard when Laura, Lila, Cooper, and Nathaniel suddenly vanish. In his grief, Barton becomes a vigilante called Ronin. He dons a ninja costume and katana and begins to hunt down and eliminate organized crime around the world, killing criminals he believes deserved to die instead of innocents like his family. In New York, he attacks the Tracksuit Mafia and murders many of its members, including William Lopez, making enemies like the Tracksuit Mafia leader Wilson Fisk and Lopez's daughter Maya. At some point, he travels to Mexico and slaughters a drug cartel. Rhodes attempts to track him down but is unsuccessful.


text: In 2023, Barton travels to Tokyo and murders the Yakuza, before being approached by Romanoff, who tells him that the Avengers discovered time travel to reverse the Blip. Barton returns to the Avengers Compound and reunites with the other Avengers, as well as meeting Rocket and Nebula. Barton volunteers to test out the quantum tunnel and is transported into the Quantum Realm where he travels to an alternate timeline seeing his house and hearing his daughter's voice before being transported back. After the Avengers formulate a plan to retrieve the Infinity Stones from different points in time, Barton and Romanoff travel to an alternate 2014 timeline.


text: Travelling in the "Benatar" through space, they land on the planet Vormir and are met by the Red Skull, who tells them that in order to retrieve the Soul Stone, a life sacrifice is required. Barton chooses to sacrifice himself, but is stopped by Romanoff. They fight to sacrifice themselves but, in the end, Romanoff jumps over the cliff, allowing Barton to obtain the Soul Stone. After returning to the main timeline, a grief-stricken Barton and the original Avengers hold a mourning for Romanoff outside of the Compound. Once the Nano Gauntlet is constructed, Barton watches as Banner uses it to reverse the Blip. Barton receives a phone call from his restored wife. However, the Compound is then attacked by missiles sent by an alternate Thanos' "Sanctuary II" warship and Barton falls into the Compound's tunnels below. Barton recovers the Gauntlet and protects it against Outriders, before joining the battle against the aliens. Barton watches Stark sacrifice himself to destroy Thanos' army and, after the battle, returns home and reunites with his family. A week later, they all attend Stark's funeral at his cabin and afterwards, Barton reunites with Maximoff.


text: One year later, Barton, now wearing a hearing aid, spends time with his children in New York City for Christmas, attending a Broadway theatre musical about Steve Rogers and the Avengers. Barton leaves early due to being bothered by the portrayal of the Battle of New York and reminders of Romanoff. That night, he learns from local news that someone has acquired his Ronin suit and is fighting the Tracksuit Mafia while wearing it. After rescuing the disguised individual from the Mafia, he unmasks the individual and finds out it is a young woman named Kate Bishop, a skilled archer who grew up idolizing him after he unknowingly saved her during the Battle of New York.


text: Bishop takes Barton back to her apartment, but they are attacked by the Mafia and forced to leave the Ronin suit behind as they evacuate with Lucky, a one-eyed golden retriever that Bishop rescued and adopted earlier. After relocating to Bishop's aunt's apartment, Barton sends his children back home the next morning, promising to return by Christmas Day. He escorts Bishop to her work and then recovers the Ronin suit from a LARP event in Central Park. Later, Barton allows himself to be captured by the Mafia to learn more about their plans. Bishop, unaware of this, tracks down Barton's location to rescue him and gets captured in the process. Maya Lopez interrogates him on Ronin's true identity and Barton tells her that Ronin was killed by Romanoff. After managing to free himself and Bishop, the two work together to battle and evade Lopez and the Mafia at the Manhattan Bridge.


text: Barton, accompanied by Bishop and Lucky, obtains a new hearing aid and then goes to the penthouse of Bishop's mother, Eleanor, to learn more about the Tracksuits using her mother's company's database. However, Bishop gets locked out of her mother's account, and Barton is confronted by Jack Duquesne, the fiancé of Bishop's mother who possesses Barton's Ronin sword. The situation is diffused after Eleanor and Duquesne recognize him. Eleanor asks him to keep Bishop out of his investigation as he secretly takes back his sword. With the help of his wife Laura, Barton discovers that Duquesne is the CEO of Sloan Limited, a shell company that launders money for the Tracksuits. That night, Bishop throws him and Lucky a small Christmas party to make up for missing time with his family, and the two bond over various activities. Barton tells Bishop about his past with Romanoff as she deduces that he was Ronin.


text: The next day, Barton locates Lopez's lieutenant, Kazi Kazimierczak, and demands he convince Lopez to end her vendetta against Ronin. Afterwards, Laura informs Barton that a Rolex watch recovered from the Avengers Compound stolen by the Tracksuits is sending out tracking signals from an apartment building. Barton and Bishop go to retrieve it, and ultimately find the watch in Lopez's apartment, where she also keeps notes on Barton and his family. As Bishop battles Lopez, Barton is ambushed by a masked assassin who is revealed to be Yelena Belova, who is targeting him after learning of his involvement in Romanoff's death, before she escapes. Barton decides that he cannot keep putting Bishop in danger and breaks off their partnership.


text: Barton takes shelter at the apartment of his new friend, FDNY firefighter Grills. He visits the local Avengers memorial and speaks to the late Romanoff, apologizing aloud for what he is about to do. Barton sets a meeting with Lopez where he dons the Ronin suit, quickly incapacitates all of her men, and fights and defeats Lopez. He spares her life and unmasks, warning her that continued threats toward his family will result in her demise, and reveals that he was tipped off by an informant working for Lopez's boss who wanted her father dead. Lopez manages to injure Barton who is subsequently saved by Bishop and Lopez flees. Bishop reveals to Barton that Belova is hunting him. Belova sends Bishop a text message informing her that her mother is working with Lopez's boss, who Barton identifies as organized crime boss Wilson Fisk.


text: Barton watches a video Belova sent Bishop and learns that Eleanor killed Armand and set up Dusquense to take the fall. On Christmas Eve, Barton and Bishop attend Eleanor’s holiday party at Rockefeller Center. Kazi attempts to assassinate Eleanor on Fisk's order, but later targets Barton. Barton enlists the help of Grills and the LARPers to evacuate the party guests, then later rejoins Bishop and defeats the Tracksuit Mafia. Bishop later departs to look for Eleanor, while Barton is confronted by Belova, who demands the truth of Romanoff's death. Barton complies but the struggle leads to a fight in which Barton eventually convinces Belova to stand down and spare his life. In the aftermath, Eleanor is arrested by the police for Armand's murder, while Fisk manages to escape but is later shot by Lopez. On Christmas Day, Barton departs New York in a car with Bishop and Lucky. Once home, he introduces Bishop and Lucky to his family, witnesses his children opening their presents, returns the stolen watch, a S.H.I.E.L.D. memento, to his wife Laura, and later burns the Ronin suit with Bishop.


text: Several alternate versions of Barton appear in the animated series "What If...?", with Renner reprising his role.


text: In an alternate 2012, Barton and Fury encounter Captain Carter coming through a portal via the Tesseract.


text: In an alternate 2011, Barton is framed for killing Thor in New Mexico by Hank Pym, who forces him to accidentally shoot Thor. Pym then kills Barton in his holding cell.


text: In an alternate 2018, Barton goes with the Avengers to San Francisco to deal with a quantum virus that transforms people into zombies, but is infected and ambushes the survivors at Grand Central Station along with a zombified Wilson, infecting Happy Hogan.


text: Later, he and the other zombies are transported by Doctor Strange Supreme to another dimension as to create a distraction for Ultron, but are killed after Ultron uses the Infinity Stones to obliterate the planet.


text: In an alternate 2015, Barton and Romanoff become the only survivors following a cataclysmic event instigated by Ultron. His right arm is replaced by a robotic one, and he and Romanoff travel to Moscow in search of an analog code that may be able to shut down Ultron's AI. Afterward, they head to the Hydra Siberian Facility and locate the final copy of Arnim Zola's mind, which they hope to upload onto Ultron's hive mind and eliminate him. This plan backfires as Ultron was not in their universe, prompting Barton to sacrifice himself to the pursuing Ultron sentries for Romanoff and Zola to escape.


text: A master archer working as an agent for S.H.I.E.L.D. Renner said it was a very physical role and that he trained physically and practiced archery as much as possible in preparation. About the role, Renner said, "When I saw "Iron Man", I thought that was a really kick-ass approach to superheroes. Then they told me about this Hawkeye character, and I liked how he wasn't really a superhero; he's just a guy with a high skill set. I could connect to that". Regarding Hawkeye's sniper mentality, Renner said, "It's a lonely game. He's an outcast. His only connection is to Scarlett's character, Natasha. It's like a left hand/right hand thing. They coexist, and you need them both, especially when it comes to a physical mission". Renner said Hawkeye is not insecure about his humanity. "Quite the opposite, he's the only one who can really take down the Hulk with his [tranquilizer-tipped] arrows. He knows his limitations. But when it comes down to it, there has to be a sense of confidence in any superhero". Renner earned $2–3 million for his role in "The Avengers".


text: Renner almost appeared in 2014's "" in an extended cameo apprehending Steve Rogers, but was cut from the film by the directors due to his schedule conflicts.


text: Whedon said that Hawkeye interacts more with the other characters in "Age of Ultron", as opposed to the first "Avengers" film where the character had been "possessed pretty early by a bad guy and had to walk around all scowly". As the character did not appear in any other of Marvel's Phase Two films, Whedon stated "Age of Ultron" sheds light on to what the character was doing since the end of "The Avengers". Renner described the character as "kind of a loner" and "a team player only 'cause he sort of has to be. He's not really a company man. Captain America can be that guy. In ["Age of Ultron"] you'll understand why [Hawkeye] thinks the way he thinks".


text: In March 2015, Renner was revealed to be reprising his role as Barton in "Captain America: Civil War". On Barton's reasons for joining Rogers' side, Renner said, "Cap was the first guy who called. Let's just get the job done so I can get home to the family", along with feeling an obligation to side with Scarlet Witch, since her brother, Pietro Maximoff, sacrificed himself to save Barton in "Avengers: Age of Ultron". On how he and Barton fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Renner said, "I'm happy to be the ensemble. I'm not scratching or clawing to do a solo movie by any means ... I think [Barton's] a utility guy that can bounce around into other people's universes a little bit".


text: Stephen McFeely described Barton's dark turn in "Avengers: Endgame" as "a good example of people who had much stronger stories after the Snap". The film's cold open, which features the disintegration of Barton's family, was initially supposed to be in "Infinity War" following Thanos' snap, however it was moved to "Endgame" instead, with Markus explaining that it was "going to blunt the brutality of what [Thanos] did." Joe Russo felt it was "a very tragic scene to open the movie with. It's one of the few scenes in the movie that actually makes me tear up when I watch it, because I think about my own family... And then you think about what would happen to you, as a father. You'd become very self-destructive". Renner makes an uncredited voice-only cameo appearance as Barton in "Black Widow" (2021).


text: In April 2019, a limited series focused on Barton's character was reported to be in development, with the plot involving Barton passing the mantle of Hawkeye to Kate Bishop. The series was officially announced at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con, with the plot taking place following the events of "Avengers: Endgame". "Hawkeye" premiered in November 2021, with Jonathan Igla serving as the series' showrunner. In September 2019, Hailee Steinfeld was announced to be portraying Kate Bishop. The series further explores the character's time as Ronin. Renner said that meeting Kate Bishop brings "an onslaught of problems" into Barton's life, as Barton does not understand her obsession with him.


text: Polly Conway of "Common Sense Media" found Barton to be a positive role model across "Hawkeye", writing, "Hard work, perseverance, and courage are all clear themes. You are not defined solely by your past choices and mistakes. [...] Although they have to make many sacrifices to do so, the heroes are fighting for the greater good. They demonstrate courage, teamwork, and perseverance." Michael Walsh of "Collider" included Barton in their "10 Best Non-Powered Characters In The MCU" list, saying, "Clint is easily the most grounded of The Avengers, operating without superpowers and with a loving family waiting for him to return home at the end of each mission." Chris E. Hayne of "GameSpot" ranked Barton 18th in their "38 Marvel Cinematic Universe Superheroes" list, writing, "While he's one of the original Avengers, he's also the least spectacular member of the team. That said, the standalone "Hawkeye" series on Disney+ did a lot of rehab of the character and, dare we say, we're going to miss Clint if he is indeed retired." Bradley Prom of "Screen Rant" ranked Barton 6th in their "10 Best Spies & Covert Agents" list, claiming that "his proficiency with the bow and arrow is what set him apart, and made him so deadly."


text: Samy Amanatullah of "Screen Rant" described Renner's portrayal of Barton as one of the casting decisions that helped the MCU, stating that "Renner channels the right amount of cynicism and earnestness to simultaneously shut down fan criticisms, recognize the ridiculousness of the premise, and somehow make it relatable." Kaitlin Thomas of "TVLine" found Renner's portrayal of Barton across "Hawkeye" funny and entertaining, stating, "Renner's performance in "Hawkeye", whether he's playing the role of tired dad, nailing unexpected punchlines with pin-point accuracy, or making viewers laugh as an exasperated man attending a LARPing event in New York City, elevates the series beyond the basic thesis of a man torn between his family and doing the right thing." Jonny Hoffman of "MovieWeb" ranked Renner's performance in "Hawkeye" 7th in their "Jeremy Renner's Best Performances" list, writing, "In the "Hawkeye" series, Renner proves that he has what it takes to lead a superhero series through his performance and physicality. [...] Renner dives into a range of emotion throughout the series and proves that he is one of the greatest action stars working."


text: The character has been the subject of various jokes including internet memes and a 2012 "Saturday Night Live" skit (in which Renner portrayed the character), highlighting the perceived absurdity of a regular human archer being amongst aliens, super soldiers, and gods. He was also perceived as being regularly "sidelined" during his appearances. During "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015), Barton himself acknowledged this when he stated, "The city is flying and we're fighting an army of robots. And I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes any sense". Renner indicated that he appreciates that Barton's character is more relatable, stating, "When I get off work, all I wanna do is be with my family. And having zero superpowers — I love that this guy has will and mental fortitude that anyone can have". Barton has been described as going from "the butt of all jokes" to a fan favorite and underdog.


text: After being excluded from marketing of "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018), fans of both Renner and the character—as well as those who ridiculed his "sidelined" appearances—drew attention to his absence. This was acknowledged by Renner on Instagram. A change.org petition demanding his inclusion in promotional material received over a thousand signatures. In an interview with "Gizmodo"'s "io9", producer Kevin Feige said that, as it drew attention to the character, he believed that the prevalent discussion "was one of the best things that ever happened to Hawkeye." The character did not appear in "Infinity War", but was among the main cast in its sequel, "Avengers: Endgame" (2019).


text: In 2019, a satirical Reddit post went viral, comparing the ratio of the Avengers' wins in battles with Barton then without him—where they lost in all such cases.


title: Sikandar Kher

text: Sikandar Kher (born 31 October 1981) is an Indian actor. He made his acting debut with the film, "Woodstock Villa" (2008). In the subsequent years, Kher went to be a part of multi-starrers such as "Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey", "Players", "Aurangzeb", "" and "The Zoya Factor".


title: Sikandar Kher

text: In 2020, he appeared in a pivotal role in the Indian crime drama series, Aarya. Kher has also been a part of "Sense8", an American science fiction show in 2017.


title: Sikandar Kher

text: Kher is the son of actress and politician Kirron Kher and her first husband Gautam Berry. He is the stepson of actor Anupam Kher. He attended The Doon School in Dehradun. He then joined the short-term six-month theatre course at the National School of Drama.


title: Sikandar Kher

text: Kher got his first break in acting from producer Sanjay Gupta in the film, "Woodstock Villa". The film's review by "Hindustan Times" said that his performance was limited by the film's screenplay and direction. On the other hand, "Times of India" said that he had a screen presence. CNN-IBN's Rajeev Masand, who was highly critical about the movie, said that Sikander had an "engaging presence and impressive dialogue delivery."


title: Sikandar Kher

text: In the subsequent years, Kher went to be a part of multi-starrers such as Ashutosh Gowariker's "Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey", Abbas-Mustan's thriller "Players" and Aurangzeb starring Rishi Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor, among others. He was hailed for his comic timing in films like "Tere Bin Laden 2" and Sonam K Ahuja starrer "The Zoya Factor". Appreciating his performance in the latter, Monika Rawal Kukreja from "Hindustan Times", in her review of the film, wrote, “Sikander Kher as Zoya's brother Zorawar delivers some clever comic punches.”


title: Sikandar Kher

text: Kher is a member of the International Film and Television Club of Asian Academy Of Film & Television, Noida.


title: Sikandar Kher

text: In January 2016, Kher got engaged to Priya Singh, cousin of actress Sonam Kapoor. In March 2016, the engagement between Sikandar and Priya had been called off.


title: Faiz Hameed

text: Faiz Hameed (Punjabi & ) is a retired three-star general in the Pakistani Army. He last served as Commander of the XXXI Corps. He was commissioned in the Baloch Regiment having served as the 24th Director General of the ISI and as GOC 16th Infantry Division Pano Akil.


title: Molly Gordon

text: Molly June Gordon is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the drama TV series "Animal Kingdom" (2016–2018), as Nicky, and in the comedy films "Life of the Party" (2018) as Maddie, "Booksmart" (2019) as Triple A, and "Good Boys" (2019) as Hannah.


title: Molly Gordon

text: Gordon was born and raised in Los Angeles, to Jewish parents. She is the daughter of director Bryan Gordon and writer-director Jessie Nelson. She performed on the LA stage from a young age, and grew up with actor Ben Platt, with whom she starred in productions of "Fiddler on the Roof" at age four and "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" at age five. She regularly watched the sketch-comedy series "Saturday Night Live" and attended performances by comedy troupe The Groundlings, leading her to an interest pursuing comedic acting. She portrayed Dot in her high school's performance of "Sunday in the Park with George" when she was 17. She did poorly on her SAT exam, but briefly attended New York University, leaving after two weeks due to dissatisfaction with her program. Her aunt, Davia Nelson, is one of The Kitchen Sisters, who are radio producers.


title: Molly Gordon

text: Gordon's first film appearance was in Nelson's 2001 drama film "I Am Sam" as Callie, followed by her portrayal of a trick-or-treater in Nora Ephron's 2005 film "Bewitched".


title: Molly Gordon

text: Gordon moved to New York City in 2014 to pursue acting as a profession. In August 2015, she was cast as Nicky in the TNT pilot "Animal Kingdom", based on the 2010 Australian film of the same name. The pilot was picked up with a 10-episode order in December 2015, and the series debuted on June 14, 2016, with Gordon as a series regular.


title: Molly Gordon

text: She played Maddie, the daughter of Melissa McCarthy's character, in the 2018 comedy film "Life of the Party".


title: Molly Gordon

text: Gordon began rehearsals to portray Alice Spencer in the Off-Broadway production of "Alice by Heart" in December 2018. The musical, directed by her mother, Nelson, who also co-wrote with Steven Sater, opened at the MCC Theater on February 26, 2019. The show's run concluded in May 2019. Gordon portrayed Triple A in the 2019 comedy film "Booksmart". The film attracted Gordon due to its "kooky" characters that she found to "have such a grounded realism in them."


title: Provinces of Nepal

text: The provinces of Nepal () were formed on 20 September 2015 in accordance with Schedule 4 of the Constitution of Nepal. The seven provinces were formed by grouping the existing districts. The current system of seven provinces replaced an earlier system where Nepal was divided into 14 administrative zones which were grouped into five development regions.


title: Provinces of Nepal

text: A committee was formed to restructure administrative divisions of Nepal on 23 December 1956 and in two weeks, a report was submitted to the government. In accordance with The "Report On Reconstruction Of Districts Of Nepal, 2013" (), the country was first divided into total 7 "Kshetras" (area).


title: Provinces of Nepal

text: In 1962, all "Kshetras" were dissolved and the country was restructured into 75 development districts; those districts were further grouped into 14 zones. In 1972, all 14 zones were grouped into 4 development regions; later in 1981, they were rearranged into the following 5 development regions.


title: Provinces of Nepal

text: The provinces of Nepal were formed according to Schedule 4 of the Constitution of Nepal. The seven provinces were formed by grouping the existing districts; two districts, namely Nawalparasi and Rukum, were split between two provinces. Each district has local units. Local level bodies in Nepal include six metropolises, 11 sub-metropolises, 276 municipal councils and 460 village councils. The current system of seven provinces replaced an earlier system where Nepal was divided into 14 administrative zones which were grouped into five development regions.


title: Provinces of Nepal

text: In January 2016 the Government of Nepal announced temporary headquarters of the seven provinces. According to Article 295 (2), the permanent names of the provinces will be determined by a two-thirds vote of the respective province's legislature.


title: Provinces of Nepal

text: The executive power of the provinces, pursuant to the constitution and laws, is vested in the council of ministers of the province. The executive power of the province shall be exercised by the province head (governor) in case of absence of the province executive in a state of emergency or enforcement of the federal rule. Every province has a ceremonial head as the representative of the federal government. The President appoints a governor for every province. The governor exercises the rights and duties as to be performed specified in the constitution or laws. The governor appoints the leader of the parliamentary party with the majority in the provincial assembly as the chief minister and the council of ministers are formed under the chairpersonship of the chief minister.


title: Provinces of Nepal

text: The "Pradesh Sabha" is the unicameral legislative assembly of each of the seven federal provinces. The term for the members of the provincial assemblies is five years, except when dissolved earlier.


title: Provinces of Nepal

text: Candidates for each constituency are chosen by the political parties or stand as independents. Each constituency elects one member under the first past the post system of election. Since Nepal uses a parallel voting system, voters cast another ballot to elect members through the party-list proportional representation. The current constitution specifies that sixty percent of the members should be elected from the first past the post system and forty percent through the party-list proportional representation system. Women should account for one-third of total members elected from each party and if one-third percentage are not elected, the party that fails to ensure so shall have to elect one-third of total number as women through the party-list proportional representation.


title: Provinces of Nepal

text: A party with an overall majority (more seats than all other parties combined) following an election forms the government. If a party has no outright majority, parties can seek to form coalitions.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC; ; ) is an autonomous ritual Eastern Catholic Church that is in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church. It is the second-largest particular church ("sui juris") in the Catholic Church, second only to the Latin Church. As a major archiepiscopal church, it is governed by a Major Archbishop; the incumbent is Sviatoslav Shevchuk.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The church is one of the churches that regards itself as a successor to the acceptance of Christianity in the region of Kievan Rus' by Grand Prince Vladimir the Great of Kyiv. The foundation of the Orthodox Church of Rus is traditionally dated to 988 AD. In 1596, by the terms of the Union of Brest, this Rus' or Ruthenian Church changed from the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople to the jurisdiction of the Holy See, thereby forming the Ruthenian Uniate Church. The "Union of Brest" was a treaty between the Ruthenian Orthodox Church in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, under the leadership of the Metropolitan of Kyiv, Galicia and All Ruthenia — Michael III — on one part, and the Latin Church under the leadership of the Pope — Clement VIII — on the other part.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: Following the partitions of Poland, the eparchies of the "Ruthenian Uniate Church" () were liquidated in the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Only the three eparchies that came under Austrian jurisdiction remained of the Brest Union. In 1963, the church was recognized as Ukrainian through the efforts of Yosyf Slipyi.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The ordinary (or hierarch) of the church holds the title of "Major archbishop of Kyiv-Halych and All Ruthenia". The title "Major Archbishop", which was introduced in 1963, is unique within the Catholic Church. However, the hierarchs and faithful of the church acclaim their ordinary as "Patriarch" and have requested Papal recognition of this title.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is the largest Eastern Catholic Church in the world. As of 2019, it had approximately 4.1 million members. In Ukraine, the UGCC is the second largest religious organization in terms of number of communities within the Catholic Church. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has third most members in allegiance among the population of Ukraine after the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church predominates in three western oblasts of Ukraine, including the majority of the population of Lviv, but constitutes a small minority elsewhere in the country. The church has followed the spread of the Ukrainian diaspora and has some 40 hierarchs in over a dozen countries on four continents, including three other metropolitan bishops in Poland, the United States, and Canada. The Church in the diaspora including the United States and Canada is largely multi-ethnic.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church was created with the Union of Brest in 1595/1596, yet its roots go back to the very beginning of Christianity in the Mediaeval Slavic state of Ruthenia. Byzantine missionaries exercised decisive influence in the area. The 9th-century mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Great Moravia had particular importance as their work allowed the spread of worship in the Old Church Slavonic language. The Byzantine-Greek influence continued, particularly with the official adoption of Byzantine rites by Prince Vladimir I of Kyiv in 988 when there was established the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Metropolis of Kyiv and all Ruthenia. Later at the time of the Great Schism (ca 1054) the Ruthenian (Rusyn) Church took sides and remained Orthodox.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: Following the devastating Mongol invasion of Ruthenia and sack of Kyiv in 1240, Metropolitan Maximus of Kyiv moved to the town of Vladimir-on-Klyazma in 1299. In 1303 on petition of Ruthenia kings from the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia (Ruthenia), Patriarch Athanasius I of Constantinople created a separate Metropolis of Halych that included western parishes of the original Metropolis of Kyiv and all Ruthenia. The new metropolis did not last for long (inconsistently throughout most of the 14th century) and its new Metropolitan Peter of Moscow was consecrated as the Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ruthenia instead of Metropolitan of Halych. Just before his death Peter moved his episcopal see from Vladimir to Moscow. During his reign there was established Metropolitanate of Lithuania in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, while after his death Metropolis of Halych was reestablished as well. In 1445 the Metropolitan Isidore with his see in Moscow joined the Council of Florence and became a papal legate of all Ruthenia and Lithuania. After Isidore suffered prosecutions by local bishops and royalty of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, he was banned away from Muscovy, while the Muscovite princes appointed own Metropolitan Jonah of Moscow without consent of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: Because of that Patriarch Gregory III of Constantinople reorganized the Ruthenian Church in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (until 1569 the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) and its new primates were titled as Metropolitans of Kyiv, Halych and all Ruthenia. He appointed Gregory II Bulgarian as the new Greek Catholic primate who in 1470 rejoined the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople under Dionysius I of Constantinople.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: This situation continued for some time, and in the intervening years what is now Western and Central Ukraine came under the rule of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Polish king Sigismund III Vasa was heavily influenced by the ideals of the Counter-Reformation and wanted to increase the Catholic presence in Ukraine. While the clergy of the Ruthenian lands were technically ruled from Constantinople, the Ruthenian Orthodox bishops were appointed by the Polish Catholic monarch, often with disastrous results. In the Eparchy of Volodimir-Volynski, for example, two different lay noblemen were both appointed as Bishop by the Polish King. Both "bishops" hired mercenaries and fought a pitched battle over control of the Eparchy, before the Polish King finally stepped in and appointed one of the two candidates to an adjacent Orthodox See.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: Meanwhile, the religious renewal caused by the Counter-Reformation among Latin Catholics in Poland and Lithuania drew the envy of Orthodox clergy. With the encouragement of the Society of Jesus, four bishops of the Ruthenian Church signed the Union of Brest in 1595, broke from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and reunited with the Roman Catholic Church under the authority of the Holy See, while continuing to say the Byzantine Rite in Old Church Slavonic. The Union of Brest was also motivated by outrage over the insult to the Primacy of the See of Kiev implicit in the recent promotion of the See of Moscow to a Patriarchate by Jeremias II of Constantinople. In 1596 the Ruthenian Bishops finalized their agreement with the Holy See. The union was not accepted by all the members of the Ruthenian Orthodox Church in these lands, and marked the creation of Greek Catholic Church and separate eparchies that continued to stay Orthodox among which were Lviv eparchy, Peremyshel eparchy, Mukachevo eparchy and Lutsk eparchy that at first accepted the union but later oscillated back and forth, depending on who was the Bishop.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The conflict between Orthodox and Greek Catholics tried to be extinguished by adopting "Articles for Pacification of Ruthenian people" in 1632. Following that in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth legally existed both churches with Metrolopolitans of Kyiv, one, Josyf Veliamyn Rutsky, Greek Catholic, and another, Peter Mogila, Orthodox.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: After the partitions of Poland, the original diocesan structure of the Ruthenian Uniate Church was split among the three states in the following way:


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The Habsburg monarchy established a crown land of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria and also a territory called West Galicia, which in 1803 was merged with Galicia and Lodomeria. In 1804, the combined entities became a crownland of the Austrian Empire. The Greek Catholic Church was established on 1807 with its metropolitan see based in Lwow. Its suffragan dioceses included Chelm and Przemyśl. Following the 1809 Treaty of Schönbrunn, the Austrian Empire was forced to cede most of the territory of the former West Galicia to the Duchy of Warsaw. In 1815, the final decision of Congress of Vienna resulted in the cession of West Galicia to the Russian Empire. The diocese of Chelm, which was located in West Galicia, ended up under the Russian jurisdiction.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The Russian emperor Pavel I of Russia restored the Uniate church, which was reorganized with three eparchies suffragan to metropolitan bishop Joasaphat Bulhak. The church was allowed to function without restraint (calling its adherents Basilians). The clergy soon split into pro-Catholic and pro-Russian, however, with the former tending to convert to Latin Catholicism, whilst the latter group, led by Bishop Iosif Semashko (1798–1868) and firmly rejected by the ruling Greek-Catholic synod remained largely controlled by the pro-Polish clergy with the Russian authorities largely refusing to interfere. Following the Congress of Vienna, the Russian Empire occupied former Austrian Poland of so-called West Galicia and, temporarily, Tarnopol district, where in 1809 was established a separate metropolitan of Galicia. The territory of Kholm eparchy along with Central Polish territories became part of the Congress of Poland. The situation changed abruptly following Russia's successful suppression of the 1831 Polish uprising, aimed at overthrowing Russian control of the Polish territories. As the uprising was actively supported by the Greek-Catholic church, a crackdown on the Church occurred immediately. The pro-Latin members of the synod were removed; and the Church began to disintegrate, with its parishes in Volhynia reverting to Orthodoxy, including the 1833 transfer of the famous Pochaiv Lavra. In 1839 the Synod of Polotsk (in modern-day Belarus), under the leadership of Bishop Semashko, dissolved the Greek-Catholic church in the Russian Empire, and all its property was transferred to the Orthodox state church. The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia says that in what was then known as 'Little Russia' (now Ukraine), the pressure of the Russian Government "utterly wiped out" Greek Catholicism, and "some 7,000,000 of the Uniats there were compelled, partly by force and partly by deception, to become part of the Greek Orthodox Church".


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The dissolution of the Greek-Catholic Church in Russia was completed in 1875 with the abolition of the Eparchy of Kholm. By the end of the century, those remaining faithful to this church began emigrating to the U.S., Canada, and Brazil due to persecution by the Orthodox Church and the Russian Empire, e.g. the Pratulin Martyrs.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: Within the lands of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the largest Eastern Catholic Church, priests' children often became priests and married within their social group, establishing a tightly knit hereditary caste. Numbering approximately 2,000-2,500 by the 19th century, priestly families tended to marry within their group, constituting a tight-knit hereditary caste. In the absence of a significant culturally and politically active native nobility (although there was considerable overlap, with more than half of the clerical families also being of petty noble origin ), and enjoying a virtual monopoly on education and wealth within western Ukrainian society, the clergy came to form that group's native aristocracy. The clergy adopted Austria's role for them as bringers of culture and education to the Ukrainian countryside. Most Ukrainian social and political movements in Austrian-controlled territory emerged or were highly influenced by the clergy themselves or by their children. This influence was so great that western Ukrainians were accused by their Polish rivals of wanting to create a theocracy in western Ukraine.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The territory received by Austria-Hungary in the partition of Poland included Galicia (modern western Ukraine and southern Poland). Here the Greek-Catholic Ruthenian (Ukrainian) peasantry had been largely under Polish Catholic domination. The Austrians granted equal freedom of worship to the Greek-Catholic Church and removed Polish influence. They also mandated that Uniate seminarians receive a formal higher education (previously, priests had been educated informally by their fathers), and organized institutions in Vienna and Lviv that would serve this function. This led to the appearance, for the first time, of a large, educated class within the Ukrainian population in Galicia. It also engendered a fierce sense of loyalty to the Habsburg dynasty. When Polish rebels briefly took control of Lviv in 1809, they demanded that the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Anton Anhelovych, substitute Napoleon's name in the Divine Liturgy for that of Austrian Emperor Francis II. Anhelovych refused, and was imprisoned. When the Austrians retook control over Lviv, Anhelovych was awarded the cross of Leopold by the Emperor.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: As a result of the reforms, over the next century the Greek-Catholic Church in Austrian Galicia ceased being a puppet of foreign interests and became the primary cultural force within the Ukrainian community. Most independent native Ukrainian cultural and political trends (such as Rusynophilia, Russophilia and later Ukrainophilia) emerged from within the ranks of the Greek-Catholic Church clergy. The participation of Greek Catholic priests or their children in western Ukrainian cultural and political life was so great that western Ukrainians were accused of wanting to create a theocracy in western Ukraine by their Polish rivals. Among the political trends that emerged, the Christian social movement was particularly linked to the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Many people saw the Austrians as having saved the Ukrainians and their Church from the Poles, though it was the Poles who set into motion the Greek-Catholic cast of their church.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: After World War I, Ukrainian Greek Catholics found themselves under the governance of the nations of Poland, Hungary, Romania and Czechoslovakia. Under the previous century of Austrian rule, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church attained such a strong Ukrainian national character that in interwar Poland, the Greek Catholics of Galicia were seen by the nationalist Polish and Catholic state as even less patriotic than the Orthodox Volhynians. Extending its Polonization policies to its Eastern Territories, the Polish authorities sought to weaken the UGCC. In 1924, following a visit with Ukrainian Catholic believers in North America and western Europe, the head of the UGCC was initially denied reentry to Lwów (the Polish name at the time for Lviv), only being allowed back after a considerable delay. Polish Catholic priests, led by their Latin bishops, began missionary work among Greek Catholics; and administrative restrictions were placed on the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: After World War II Ukrainian Catholics came under the rule of Communist Poland and the hegemony of the Soviet Union. With only a few clergy invited to attend, a synod was convened in Lviv (Lvov), which revoked the Union of Brest. Officially all of the church property was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate, Most of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic clergy went underground. This catacomb church was strongly supported by its diaspora in the Western Hemisphere. Emigration to the U.S. and Canada, which had begun in the 1870s, increased after World War II.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: In the winter of 1944–1945, Ukrainian Greek Catholic clergy were summoned to 'reeducation' sessions conducted by the NKVD. Near the end of the war in Europe, the state media began an anti-Ukrainian-Catholic campaign. The creation of the community in 1596 was discredited in publications, which went to great pains to try to prove the Church was conducting activities directed against Ukrainians in the first half of the 20th century.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: In 1945, Soviet authorities arrested, deported, and sentenced to forced-labor camps in Siberia and elsewhere the church's metropolitan Yosyf Slipyi and nine other Greek Catholic bishops, as well as hundreds of clergy and leading lay activists. In Lviv alone, 800 priests were imprisoned. All the above-mentioned bishops and significant numbers of clergymen died in prisons, concentration camps, internal exile, or soon after their release during the post-Stalin thaw. The exception was metropolitan Yosyf Slipyi who, after 18 years of imprisonment and persecution, was released thanks to the intervention of Pope John XXIII, Slipyi took refuge in Rome, where he received the title of Major Archbishop of Lviv, and became a cardinal in 1965.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The clergy who joined the Russian Orthodox Church were spared the large-scale persecution of religion that occurred elsewhere in the country (see Religion in the Soviet Union). In the city of Lviv, only one church was closed (at a time when many cities in the rest of Ukraine did not have a working church). Moreover, the western dioceses of Lviv-Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk were the largest in the USSR and contained the majority of the Russian Orthodox Church's cloisters (particularly convents, of which there were seven in Ukrainian SSR but none in Russia). Orthodox canon law was also relaxed on the clergy allowing them to shave beards (a practice uncommon to Orthodoxy) and conduct liturgy in Ukrainian as opposed to Church Slavonic.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The Ukrainian Catholics continued to exist underground for decades and were the subject of vigorous attacks in the state media. The clergy gave up public exercise of their clerical duties, but secretly provided services for many lay people. Many priests took up civilian professions and celebrated the sacraments in private. The identities of former priests could have been known to the Soviet police who regularly watched them, interrogated them and put fines on them, but stopped short of arrest unless their activities went beyond a small circle of people. New secretly ordained priests were often treated more harshly.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The church even grew during this time, and this was acknowledged by Soviet sources. The first secretary of the Lvov Komsomol, Oleksiy Babiychuk, claimed:


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: After Stalin died, Ukrainian Catholics hoped this would lead to better conditions for themselves, but such hopes were dashed in the late 1950s when the authorities arrested even more priests and unleashed a new wave of anti-Catholic propaganda. Secret ordinations occurred in exile. Secret theological seminaries in Ternopol and Kolomyia were reported in the Soviet press in the 1960s when their organizers were arrested. In 1974, a clandestine convent was uncovered in Lviv.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: During the Soviet era, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church did flourish throughout the Ukrainian diaspora. Cardinal Yosyf Slipyi was jailed as a dissident but named "in pectore" (in secret) a cardinal in 1949; he was freed in 1963 and was the subject of an extensive campaign to have him named as a patriarch, which met with strong support as well as controversy. Pope Paul VI demurred, but compromised with the creation of a new title of major archbishop (assigned to Yosyf Slipyi on 23 December 1963


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: ), with a jurisdiction roughly equivalent to that of a patriarch in an Eastern church. This title has since passed to Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky in 1984 and thereafter to Lubomyr Husar in 2000 and Sviatoslav Shevchuk in 2011; this title has also been granted to the heads of three other Eastern Catholic Churches.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: In 1968, when the Greek Catholic Church was legalized in Czechoslovakia, a large scale campaign was launched to harass recalcitrant clergy who remained illegal. These clergy were subject to interrogations, fines and beatings. In January 1969 the KGB arrested an underground Catholic bishop named Vasyl Velychkovsky and two Catholic priests, and sentenced them to three years of imprisonment for breaking anti-religious legislation.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: Activities that could lead to arrest included holding religious services, educating children as Catholics, performing baptisms, conducting weddings or funerals, hearing confessions or giving the last rites, copying religious materials, possessing prayer books, possessing icons, possessing church calendars, possessing religious books or other sacred objects. Conferences were held to discuss how to perfect the methodology in combatting Ukrainian Catholicism in West Ukraine.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: At times the Ukrainian Catholics attempted to employ legal channels to have their community recognized by the state. In 1956–1957, there were petitions to the proper authorities to request for churches to be opened. More petitions were sent in the 60s and 70s, all of which were refused. In 1976, a priest named Volodymyr Prokipov was arrested for presenting such a petition to Moscow. The response to these petitions by the state had been to sharpen attacks against the community.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: In 1984 a samizdat "Chronicle of the Catholic Church" began to be published by Ukrainian Catholics. The founder of the group behind this publication, Yosef Terelya, was arrested in 1985 and sentenced to seven years imprisonment and five years of exile. His successor, Vasely Kobryn, was arrested and sentenced to three years of exile.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The Solidarity movement in Poland and Pope John Paul II supported the Ukrainian Catholics. The state media attacked John Paul II. The antireligious journal "Liudyna i Svit" (Man and the World) published in Kyiv wrote:


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: By the late 1980s there was a shift in the Soviet government's attitude towards religion. At the height of Mikhail Gorbachev's liberalization reforms the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was allowed again to function officially in December 1989. But then it found itself largely in disarray with the nearly all of its pre-1946 parishes and property lost to the Orthodox faith. The church, actively supported by nationalist organizations such as Rukh and later the UNA-UNSO, took an uncompromising stance towards the return of its lost property and parishes. According to a Greek-Catholic priest, "even if the whole village is now Orthodox and one person is Greek Catholic, the church [building] belongs to that Catholic because the church was built by his grandparents and great-grandparents." The weakened Soviet authorities were unable to pacify the situation, and most of the parishes in Galicia came under the control of the Greek-Catholics during the events of a large scale inter-confessional rivalry that was often accompanied by violent clashes of the faithful provoked by their religious and political leadership. These tensions led to a rupture of relations between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Vatican.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: National surveys conducted since 2000 show that between 5.3% and 9.4% of Ukraine's total population are of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. In surveys, 18.6-21.3% of believers or religious people in Ukraine were Greek Catholic. Worldwide, the faithful now number some 6 to 10 million, forming the second largest particular Catholic Church, after the majority Latin Church.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: According to a 2015 survey, followers of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church make up 8.1% of the total population (excluding Crimea) and form the majority in 3 oblasts:


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: Most Ukrainian Catholic Churches have moved away from Church Slavonic and use Ukrainian. Many churches also offer liturgies in a language of the country the Church is in, for example, German in Germany or English in Canada; some parishes continue to celebrate the liturgy in Slavonic even today, however, and services in a mix of languages are not unusual.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: In the early first decade of the 21st century, the major see of the Ukrainian Catholic Church was transferred to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. The enthronement of the new head of the church Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk took place there on 27 March 2011 at the cathedral under construction on the left bank. On 18 August 2013, the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ was dedicated and solemnly opened.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: On 5 July 2019, Pope Francis declared to the church's leaders during a meeting in the Vatican “I hold you in my heart, and I pray for you, dear Ukrainian brothers." He also advocated greater humanitarian aid to Ukraine and warned the Church's Bishops to show "closeness" to their "faithful." The Pope also told the Church leaders to that "fruitful" unity within the Church can be achieved through three important aspects of synodality: listening; shared responsibility; and the involvement of the laity.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the UGCC has promoted Ukrainian statehood and independence. It opened its churches and cathedrals to use as bomb shelters and warehouses. It has used its social organisations, such as Caritas, to provide humanitarian assistance. Several leading prelates, including Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, denounced the invasion and used their connections to the wider Catholic Church to drum up support and provide information on the situation on the ground. Despite a few moments of tension between the leadership of the UGCC and Rome, namely over the inclusion of a Russian woman alongside a Ukrainian during the 2022 Good Friday Via Crucis, and the Pope's words regarding the murder of Darya Dugina, Shevchuk often emphasised Francis' support for Ukraine during the war.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: Even before the Second Vatican Council the Holy See declared it important to guard and preserve the customs and distinct forms for administering the sacraments in use in the Eastern Catholic Churches (Pope Leo XIII, encyclical "Orientalium Dignitas"). After the Russian Revolution of 1905, the underground parish of the Russian Greek Catholic Church in St. Petersburg split between the followers of Pro-Latinisation priest Fr. Aleksei Zerchaninov and those of Pro-Orientalist priest Fr. Ivan Deubner. When asked by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky to make a decision on the dispute, Pope Pius X decreed that Russian Greek Catholic priests should offer the Divine Liturgy "Nec Plus, Nec Minus, Nec Aliter" ("No more, No Less, No Different") than priests of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Old Believers.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: In the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, liturgical de-latinization began with the 1930s corrections of the liturgical books by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky. According to his biographer Cyril Korolevsky, Metropolitan Andrey opposed use of coercion against those who remained attached to Latin liturgical practices, fearing that any attempt to do so would lead to a Greek-Catholic equivalent of the 1666 Schism within the Russian Orthodox Church.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: Following the 1964 decree "Orientalium Ecclesiarum" during the Second Vatican Council and several subsequent documents, Latinisations were discarded within the Ukrainian diaspora. Meanwhile, among Byzantine Catholics in Western Ukraine, forced into a persecuted and secret existence following the Soviet ban on the UGCC, the latinizations remained, "an important component of their underground practices", in illegal parishes, seminaries, and religious communities. After proscription of the UGCC was lifted in 1989, priests and hierarchs arrived from the diaspora and began to enforce a liturgical conformity that has been met with considerable opposition.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: In response, many priests, nuns, and candidates for the priesthood found themselves, "forced towards the periphery of the church since 1989 because of their wish to 'keep the tradition'." In some eparchies, particularly those of Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil-Zboriv, the bishops would immediately suspend any priest who, "displayed his inclination toward 'traditionalist' practices".


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: In the February 2003 issue of "Patriayarkhat", the official journal of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, an article appeared written by a student at the Ukrainian Catholic University, which since its 1994 foundation has been, "the strongest progressive voice within the Church". The article named priests and parishes in every eparchy in Ukraine as being involved in "a well-organized movement" and who described themselves as "traditionalists". According to the article, they constituted "a parallel structure" with connections with the Society of St. Pius X and with a charismatic leader in Fr. Basil Kovpak, the Pastor of St. Peter and Paul's Church in the suburb of Lviv-Riasne.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: According to Vlad Naumescu, "Religious life in a traditionalist parish followed the model of the 'underground church.' Devotions were more intense, with each priest promoting his parish as a 'place of pilgrimage' for the neighboring areas, thus drawing larger crowds on Sunday than his local parish could provide. On Sundays and feast days, religious services took place three times a day (in Riasne), and the Sunday liturgy lasted for two and a half to three hours. The main religious celebrations took place outside the church in the middle of the neighborhood, and on every occasion traditionalists organized long processions through the entire locality. The community was strongly united by its common opponent, re-enacting the model of the 'defender of faith' common to times of repression. This model, which presupposes clear-cut attitudes and a firm moral stance, mobilized the community and reproduced the former determination of the 'underground' believers."


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: According to Vlad Naumescu, during the early 1990s, priests of the Society of Saint Pius X began visiting Western Ukraine and made contact with, "a group of Greek Catholic priests and lay members that favored liturgical latinization (an important component of their underground practices) and helped them organize into an active society."


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: In 1999, Basil Kovpak and two other traditionalist UGCC priests asked Society of Saint Pius X Superior General Bishop Bernard Fellay to become their spiritual leader. The reasons for this move were that the three priests hoped to obtain both approval and support from fellow Traditionalist Catholics in the West. In September 2000, Bishop Fellay agreed and the Priestly Society of St. Josaphat was founded.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The Priestly Society of Saint Josaphat extends the SSPX's criticism of indifferentism and Modernism in the Catholic Church to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. They oppose certain decisions of the Second Vatican Council and aspects of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue practiced by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Hierarchy and the Holy See.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: In addition to opposing the banning of pre-Vatican II Latin liturgical practices and devotions, the Society rejects the shortened Divine Liturgy and the mirroring of the Mass of Paul VI that has been introduced from the Ukrainian diaspora, as well as the replacement of the traditional Church Slavonic liturgical language with the vernacular Ukrainian language. As an alternative, Kovpak and his fellow Greek Catholic traditionalists celebrate what they consider the "Pravdyvyi" ("True") Rite, which often lasts two and a half to three hours.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: On 10 February 2004 Cardinal Lubomyr Husar declared Kovpak excommunicated over his links to the SSPX. Kovpak announced his plans to appeal to the Holy See. The Sacra Rota Romana accepted his appeal and declared Kovpak's excommunication null and void for lack of canonical form. The process was immediately restarted and Kovpak's second decree of excommunication was confirmed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on 21 November 2007. While pro-Kovpak Ukrainian traditionalists have often been accused of having links to the SSPX solely for financial reasons, they would not, according to Vlad Naumescu, have been able to survive as a movement without the money donated to them by Roman Rite traditionalists.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The Society operates a seminary in Lviv, where the seminarians are taught by Kovpak and by SPPX priests visiting from Poland. The Society also consists of a group of Greek Catholic nuns, who were forced to leave the Basilian Order in 1995, "because of their 'traditionalist' ideas" and who now reside in the house where Blessed Nicholas Charnetsky died following his release from the Gulag. The room in which Kyr Nicholas died is now the convent's chapel.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: Unlike the Ukrainian orthodox Greek Catholic Church, Kovpak and the PSSJK reject both Sedevacantism and Conclavism.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: In 2008, a group of Basilian priests from Slovakia, after relocating to the Pidhirtsi monastery, declared that four of them had been consecrated bishops without permission of the Pope or the Major Archbishop. The "Pidhirtsi fathers" have claimed they opposed de-latinization, and also further claim that the members of the hierarchy of the Ukrainian Greek catholic church follows liberal theology due to ecumenism.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: Because they had consecrated bishops without the authorization of Rome they were as of consequence officially excommunicated in 2008, in 2009 they constituted themselves as the "Ukrainian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church".


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: Having elected Czech Basilian priest Fr. Anthony Elias Dohnal as "Patriarch Elijah", they declared on 1 May 2011 that both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI were excommunicated and that the Holy See was vacant (Sedevacantism). They added: "The Byzantine Catholic Patriarchate is now commissioned by God to protect the orthodox doctrine of the Catholic Church, including the Latin Church. Only after an orthodox Catholic hierarchy and an orthodox successor to the Papacy is elected, will the Patriarchate be relieved of this God-given duty."


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: On 14 October 2019, the UOGCC broke with their former policy of Sedevacantism and embraced Conclavism. They announced they had elected Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, as their Pope.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: In a 2014 article in "The New York Times" about the UOGCC, Patriarch Elijah and his followers were alleged to be Pro-Russian, anti-Ukrainian, and violently opposed to the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution. In the same article, Kyr Ihor Vozniak, UGCC Archeparch of Lviv, was quoted as saying that the UOGCC is financed and secretly led by the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation in order to introduce anarchy and chaos into the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: According to the Lviv-based newspaper "Ekspres", Fr. Dohnal, alias Patriarch Elijah, was a KGB informer inside the Latin Diocese of Litoměřice before the Fall of Communism in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. In support of their claims, "Ekspres" published a document identifying Fr. Dohnal as a KGB mole with the code name “Tonek.” The UOGCC denies the accusation.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States has limited growth opportunities, because in the United States and in other non-Ukrainian jurisdictions, many parishes choose to focus on immigrants from Ukraine and their children (during the time the children are subject to parental control) as opposed to making new converts. They maintains this characteristic by resisting the use of English in liturgies and, in some parishes, insisting on the use of the Julian Calendar to calculate dates of Christmas, Easter, and other religious holidays, thus placing themselves outside the U.S. mainstream. The Ukrainian Catholic Church considers the descendants of those who migrated from Ukraine to be part of a “diaspora.” Around 40% of the diocesan priests in the diaspora are married, compared to 90% marriage rate of diocesan priests in Ukraine.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: By the time the immigrants’ children, and especially the immigrants’ grandchildren, grow up, they have learned English in school, know little to no Ukrainian, and are otherwise fully assimilated into U.S. Most of the children are either members of the Latin Church or join some non-Catholic denomination. To the extent that a Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States is able to make progress toward adaptation (e.g. the use of English in its liturgies and in the conducting of parish business), the next group of immigrants arrives from the old country and insists that the church maintain its old world characteristics without change and all former progress is reversed. For this reason, many parishes and Eparchies have begun to focus on producing converts.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: In Canada, the wave of immigration from Galicia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries led to the establishment of a number of Ukrainian Catholic churches in the Prairie provinces. The Ukrainian Catholic Church is also represented in other provinces, for example by the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Toronto and Eastern Canada, which includes dioceses in Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia, and the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of New Westminster in British Columbia.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: Note: The Eparchy of Mukachevo belongs to the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church rather than the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church moved its administrative center from Western Ukrainian Lviv to a new cathedral in Kyiv on 21 August 2005. The title of the head of the UGCC was changed from "The Major Archbishop of Lviv" to "The Major Archbishop of Kyiv and Halych".


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: The Patriarchal Curia of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church is an organ of Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the UGCC, Major Archbishop of Kyiv and Halych, which coordinates and promotes the common activity of the UGCC in Ukraine to make influence on society in different spheres: education, policy, culture, etc. The Curia develops action of the Church's structures, enables relations and cooperation with other Churches and major public institutions in religious and social areas for implementation of the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church through everyday life.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: In 2011 the church introduced territorial subdivisions in Ukraine, metropolia. A metropolitan bishop, an archbishop of main archeparchy, may gather own metropolitan synod, decisions of which shall be approved by the Major Archbishop.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: As of 2014, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is estimated to have 4,468,630 faithful, 39 bishops, 3993 parishes, 3008 diocesan priests, 399 religious-order priests, 818 men religious, 1459 women religious, 101 deacons, and 671 seminarians.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: In contemporary Ukraine prison ministry of chaplains does not exist "de jure". The prison pastoral care was at the very heart of the spirituality of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church throughout her history. Prison Pastoral of the UGCC was restored in 1990 after the Church, formerly forbidden, emerged from the underground. Pastoral care has grown steadily from several establishments in the Western Part of Ukraine to more than 40 penal institutions in every region of the country. Since 2001 the UGCC is the co-founder of the Ukrainian Interdenominational Christian Mission "Spiritual and Charitable Care in Prisons" including twelve Churches and Denominations. This Mission is a part of the World Association of Prison Ministry. The most active prison chaplains are the Redemptorist Fathers.


title: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

text: In the year 2006 Lubomyr Husar established in the Patriarchal Curia of the UGCC the Department for Pastoral Care in the Armed Forces and in the Penitentiary System of Ukraine. This structure implements a general management of Prison Ministry. The chief of the Department is Most Rev. Michael Koltun, Bishop of Sokal and Zhovkva. The head of the Unit for penitentiary pastoral care is Rev. Constantin Panteley, who is directly responsible for coordination of activity in this realm. He is in direct contact with 37 priests in 12 eparchies who have been assigned responsibility for prison pastoral care. Those pastors ensure regular attendance of penitentiary facilities, investigatory isolators and prisons.


title: Bill Hader filmography

text: Bill Hader is an American actor, comedian, producer, voice actor, and writer. The following are his appearances in film, television and video games.


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: Alpha is a 2018 American prehistorical adventure film directed by Albert Hughes and written by Daniele Sebastian Wiedenhaupt, from a story by Hughes. The film stars Kodi Smit-McPhee as a young hunter who encounters and befriends an injured wolf during the last ice age, with Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as his father. The wolf Alpha is played by Chuck, a Czechoslovakian Wolfdog.


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: Principal photography began in February 2016 in Canada and lasted through that April. The film was delayed several times, before being released in the United States on August 17, 2018, by Sony Pictures Releasing. It grossed over $99million worldwide and received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised the performances and cinematography.


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: In Upper Paleolithic Europe 20,000 years ago, a small tribe of hunter-gatherers prepare for a hunting expedition to hunt for the coming winter's food. Tau, its chief, trains his teenage son Keda, accepting him and Keda's friend Kappa to join the hunting party. His wife Rho worries that Keda is not ready, but Tau believes he is and the hunters set out.


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: Tau tests Keda by having him kill a wild boar they've caught, but Keda hesitates. One night, the party's fire draws the attention of a large cave lion, which lunges through their circle, snatching Kappa before anyone can do anything. Hearing the fatal struggle in the darkness, the tribe gives him up for dead. Kappa is given a memorial service in the form of a cairn to symbolize the passing of one's spirit to the afterlife.


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: The hunters eventually reach a herd of steppe bison, which they attempt to stampede off a cliff with relative success. Amidst the chaos, the bull rushes towards Keda and tosses him over the edge, leaving him gripping the rough cliff edge with his hand. Keda loses his grip and plummets to a further ledge where he appears to break his leg and is knocked unconscious. Tau attempts to climb down to him, but he is stopped by fellow hunter Sigma who assures him in good faith that Keda is dead and there would be no way to reach him anyway. The tribe leaves and Tau performs another funeral ritual, stricken with grief.


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: Keda is awoken by a vulture who mistakes him for dead. He kills the bird by wringing its neck and tries to climb the rest of the way down the cliff. A sudden heavy rainfall causes the ravine below to flood. Losing his grip, Keda falls into the water. He survives and splints his injured foot before returning to the top of the cliff. Seeing the memorial cairn left by his tribe, he realizes he must travel back to the village by himself.


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: Keda is later attacked and chased by a pack of ferocious wolves, but escapes up a tree and wounds one of the pack members which the others leave behind. Keda takes pity on it and cares for its injury. Gradually gaining the wolf's trust, he gives it water and then food, establishing himself as dominant by feeding himself first. He sets out for the village without the wolf, but it follows him. Their relationship grows, and they learn to hunt animals together. Along the way, Keda names the wolf "Alpha".


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: One night, they are approached menacingly by a pack of wolves. Upon seeing Alpha, who steps forward to greet them, they recognize Keda's companion. The pack run off and with Keda's blessing, Alpha joins them. Keda continues his journey alone as the season changes into winter. On a frozen lake, he encounters a pack of wolves feeding on a carcass. Recognizing Alpha, he runs to them, but the ice breaks and he falls through. Alpha helps rescue him and they are reunited.


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: Continuing the journey together, they find a man who has frozen to death outside his tent and scavenge a bow and arrow from it. Later, they take refuge from a pack of cave hyenas inside a cave. However, inside they are confronted and attacked by another cave lion, causing Alpha to violently fight the animal. Keda saves Alpha by using the bow to kill the lion with the arrow, although Alpha is badly wounded in the fight and now travels with difficulty. Meanwhile, an equally injured Keda begins to cough up blood. When Alpha finally cannot walk, Keda carries the wolf.


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: Keda eventually finds his village while nearly passing out from exhaustion, and he reunites with his shocked but relieved parents who are amazed and proud of him. As the village healer tends to both Keda and Alpha's wounds, Alpha delivers a litter of puppies much to Keda's surprise, as Alpha is revealed to be female. Alpha and her pups are formally welcomed into the tribe and grow up in the care of Alpha and Keda. The final image of the film shows the tribe and their domesticated wolves, hunting together.


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: The film was first announced in September 2015 as "The Solutrean", with Albert Hughes as director, produced by Studio 8. The film uses the IMAX 3D format. Kodi Smit-McPhee was confirmed as its star in November 2015, and other casting was finalized the following February.


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: The film's dialogue is in constructed languages ('conlangs') created by Christine Schreyer, an anthropology professor at UBC Okanagan. The main language, which Schreyer calls Beama and is spoken in two dialects, was inspired by Proto-Nostratic, Proto-Eurasiatic, and Proto-Dené–Caucasian. Schreyer also created a Neanderthal language for one scene.


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: Filming took place in Drumheller, Burnaby, and Vancouver, where a large set was built in Boundary Road near East Kent Avenue. Filming in Vancouver took place from February to May 2016, and at Dinosaur Provincial Park near Patricia, Alberta in April 2016, and in Iceland.


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: The production was investigated after five Alberta bison were allegedly killed in the making of the film. Following an investigation, the American Humane Association denied its "No Animals Were Harmed" end-credit certification to the production. Two days before the film's release, PETA called for a boycott of the film.


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: In June 2017, the film's title was changed from "The Solutrean" to "Alpha". Solutrean was an Upper Palaeolithic flint tool making style in Western Europe. The film was originally set a release date for September 15, 2017, it was pushed back from its original release date of September 15, 2017 to March 2, 2018. In December 2017, it was again pushed back, this time from March 2, 2018, to September 14, 2018. In April 2018, the release date was moved up from September 14, 2018, to August 17, 2018.


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: "Alpha" was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 13, 2018. The home video release includes both the theatrical release of the film as well as a shorter director's cut. The home video release also includes deleted scenes with optional commentary by Albert Hughes, a director's commentary, and featurettes.


title: Alpha (2018 film)

text: "Alpha" grossed $35.9million in the United States and Canada, and $62.3million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $98.2million, against a production budget of $51million.