Editing Browerville, Minnesota (section)

==History==
Browerville was [[plat]]ted in 1882, and named after [[Jacob V. Brower]] (1844–1905), a noted [[Conservation movement|conservationist]], father of both [[Itasca State Park]] and the [[Minnesota]] [[State Park]] system, and former Todd County official.<ref>{{cite book|last=Upham|first=Warren|title=Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance|url=https://archive.org/details/minnesotageogra00uphagoog|year=1920|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|page=[https://archive.org/details/minnesotageogra00uphagoog/page/n560 543]}}</ref> Browerville was incorporated in 1884.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.browerville.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={E33CF8DF-34D2-42DF-9412-B0194D9D2A2A}|title= City of Browerville Minnesota|publisher= City of Browerville Minnesota |access-date= April 26, 2013}}</ref> Two properties in town are on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]: the [[Kahlert Mercantile Store]], built in 1883, and the [[Church of St. Joseph (Browerville, Minnesota)|Church of St. Joseph]], completed in 1909.<ref>{{cite web |title=Minnesota National Register Properties Database |url=http://www.mnhs.org/preserve/nrhp/ |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society |year=2009 |access-date=2017-03-15}}</ref>

Despite being a largely Irish-, German- and Polish-American area of the State, a Rusyn farming community was also formed during the early 20th century in Browerville, by recent immigrants who had migrated West from the industrial cities in [[Pennsylvania]]. The building of a Byzantine Catholic parish church was preceded by the founding of a chapter of the [[Greek Catholic Union of the USA]].<ref>William N. Duly (1993), ''The Rusins of Minnesota'', Rusin Association of Minnesota. Pages 37-47.</ref>

In a 21 August 1912 open letter to the ''[[Amerikansky Russky Viestnik]]'', the parishioners of Holy Trinity Greek Catholic Church in Browerville, known locally as "The Farmer's Church" and which was being served by visiting priests from [https://byzantinemn.org/ St John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church] in [[Minneapolis]], announced that they had recently refused to surrender the parish and cemetery deeds to [[Pope Pius X]]'s newly appointed Greek Catholic Bishop of the United States, Kyr [[Soter Ortynsky]]. This was because the [[Byzantine Rite]] farmers of Browerville were [[Rusyns]] from [[Carpathian Ruthenia|Transcarpathia]] and members of the [[Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church]], and they accordingly viewed Bishop Soter, a member of the [[Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church]] from the [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria]], as a foreigner. They intended instead to wait for a Rusyn Bishop to also be assigned in [[North America]] before surrendering the deed.<ref>William N. Duly (1993), ''The Rusins of Minnesota'', Rusin Association of Minnesota. Pages 47-49.</ref>

A regular pastor was never assigned, however. Tensions rose further in 1926, when the family of Michael Dorosh, inspired by [[Russophilia]], converted to the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] and joined St. Mary's Russian Orthodox Church in [[Holdingford, Minnesota]]. For a time, the Russian Orthodox priest from Holdingford would visit Browerville, which led to both Orthodox and Greek Catholics using Holy Trinity Church at different times. Most parishioners of Holy Trinity Church, however, eventually switched to the [[Roman Rite]] and mainly joined St. Peter's Church, locally known as "the German church", instead of converting to Orthodoxy.<ref>William N. Duly (1993), ''The Rusins of Minnesota'', Rusin Association of Minnesota. Pages 51-54.</ref>

The last attempted use of the Church was for a Greek Catholic Funeral Liturgy, or [[Panikhida]]. The Greek Catholic priest from Northeast Minneapolis drove only as far as [[St. Cloud, Minnesota]] before further progress was stopped by the infamous [[1940 Armistice Day Blizzard]]. To the outrage of the remaining Greek Catholics of Browerville, they were still required to pay the priest's bill. The Holy Trinity Church building then fell into disuse<ref>William N. Duly (1993), ''The Rusins of Minnesota'', Rusin Association of Minnesota. Pages 50-51.</ref> and has since been demolished.

In 1990, the [[Traditionalist Catholicism|Traditional Catholic]] [[Sisters of the Society of Saint Pius X]] purchased the former Browerville hospital, which has been in use ever since as their [[Novitiate]].