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Blessed Nykyta Budka
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Blessed Nykyta Budka

First bishop for Ukrainian Catholics in Canada, died in a camp in Kazakhstan

Rank
Blessed
Kind
Bishop, Martyr
Life
1877 – 1949
Era
20th century
Feast
28 September
Countries
Ukraine, Canada, Kazakhstan
CanadaKazakhstanUkraine

Life story

Nykyta Budka was born in 1877 in Dobromirka in Galicia, then part of Austria-Hungary. He studied theology at Vienna and Innsbruck, and was ordained a priest by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky on 25 October 1905. On 15 July 1912 he was appointed bishop for Ukrainian Catholics in Canada and was consecrated on 14 October 1912. He arrived in Winnipeg that December.

In Canada he organised parishes stretching from Nova Scotia to Alberta, with only about 17 priests at first, and worked on church incorporation, parish schools and youth residences. In the First World War he issued a pastoral letter in 1914 urging reservists to serve Austria and later retracted it; he was twice accused of disloyalty and cleared both times. He resigned around 1927–1928 and returned to Lviv, where in 1928 he became vicar general of the metropolitan chapter.

After the Soviets took Galicia he was arrested on 11 April 1945 along with other bishops for opposing the separation of the Ukrainian Catholic Church from Rome. He was sentenced to eight years of hard labour and sent to Kazakhstan. In the camp, according to one source, he worked as a medic.

He died in the camp in the Karaganda region on 1 October 1949, according to the Holy See's biography and the Encyclopedia of Ukraine; a date of 28 September is also found. Pope John Paul II beatified him as a martyr on 27 June 2001 in Lviv. He has not been canonised.

Works and witness

  • Ordained in 1905; bishop for Ukrainian Catholics in Canada, consecrated 14 October 1912
  • Organised parishes, parish schools and youth residences in Canada
  • Returned to Lviv around 1928; arrested on 11 April 1945
  • Sentenced to eight years and died in a Karaganda camp in 1949
  • Beatified on 27 June 2001

Saints from the same country

Saint Josaphat Kuntsevych, Blessed Omelyan Kovch, Blessed Theodore Romzha, Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky

References

  • Holy See Press Office, Biography of Bishop Nicetas Budka for the beatification of 27 June 2001 (vatican.va)
  • Encyclopedia of Ukraine, Budka, Nykyta (encyclopediaofukraine.com)
  • Catholic-Hierarchy, Bishop Nykyta Budka (death 1 October 1949)

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.