Fr Demytro Kaczmar

Early life

Very Rev Fr Dmytro (sometimes known as Demetrius) Kaczmar was a Ukrainian Catholic priest of the Eastern Catholic Rite.  He was born on October 13,1897 in the village of Kulchytsi, Sambir Region, Galicia in Ukraine. His Secondary Education was completed in the city of Sambir. In 1918-20 he served in the Ukrainian Galician Army.

He completed his Theological Studies at St Joseph’s Seminary in Peremyshl now Przemysk part of Poland. He was married and was ordained to the priesthood on February 15, 1925 by Bishop Yosaft Kotsylovsky (secular name Yosyf).  In 1925-27 he was an assistant priest in Sambir and parish priest in the villages of Siletsi (1927-30) and Staryava Synyavska (1930-39).

In 1944 he was compelled by the Germans to leave Ukraine and work in a German Army factory. He had two sons Yuri and Bohdan. His wife died in Ukraine and his younger son Bohdan went to Germany with him. He lived in Freiburg, Germany from 1944 to 1949.

In 1949 he and his son Bohdan immigrated to Australia arriving on May 13, 1949 and was contracted for two years to work as a labourer.

Work in Adelaide

In September that year Fr Kaczmar was accepted by Archbishop Mathew Beovich of Adelaide to minister to Ukrainians in the archdiocese and had his work contract rescinded. His Grace Archbishop M. Beovich with great warmth and understanding of the needs of the Ukrainian immigrants provided Fr Dmytro with support and residence at the Archbishop’s House and also the use of St Patrick’s Church, Grote Street for the Divine Liturgy (Mass) to be celebrated.

The first Divine Liturgy was celebrated on September 25, 1949 in the convent chapel of the Sisters of Mercy, St Aloysius College.

Fr D. Kaczmar served the Ukrainian immigrants very well. He celebrated Divine Liturgies in areas where the majority of new immigrants had settled, using the Catholic Churches at Enfield, Croydon Park, Rosewater, Royal Park and Gawler.  Apart from serving the people of Adelaide, he also visited the country areas of the State, such as Mt Gambier and Nangwarry where there were a number of Ukrainian migrants working in the forests and timber mills, and also Port Lincoln.

Under his custodianship, two properties were purchased for the building of two Ukrainian Catholic Churches. In 1957 the first one was bought at Woodville where the Church of St Volodymyr and Olha now stands. Another property was bought at Wayville in 1960 where the Church of the Protection of the Mother of God is situated.

Final days in Melbourne

In 1958 Fr Ivan Prashko was consecrated as the first Ukrainian Catholic Bishop and the Apostolic Exarchate for Ukrainians in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania was created. Fr. D. Kaczmar was relocated to Melbourne in 1963 where he continued to serve the Ukrainian migrants as a counsellor and administrator. He died in Melbourne on April 7, 1977.

May he rest in peace.