Introduction

[...] the Ukrainian community in the West, particularly in North America - precisely in response to pressures occurring in Ukraine - was still strongly supportive of initiatives, especially academic initiatives that promised to project Ukrainian culture on a high and internationally visible level (as reflected, for example, in the founding of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies in 1976, or the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto in 1980). Over time, the volume on Ukrainian religious history, or as it finally came to be known-Ukrainian Church History-underwent considerable streamlining and realignment, as the initial idea of an encyclopedia, and then of a comprehensive and continuous historical narrative, were replaced by an approach focusing on selected central topics as determined by the availability of experts in the field.