Blessed Omelyan Kovch
Married Greek Catholic priest who saved Jews with baptismal certificates and died in Majdanek
- Rank
- Blessed
- Kind
- Priest, Martyr
- Life
- 1884 – 1944
- Era
- 20th century
- Countries
- Ukraine, Poland
Life story
He was born on 20 August 1884 in the Kosmach area of the Hutsul region, to a peasant family of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. He studied theology, married as his Church allows, and was ordained a priest in 1911. He then served in several places, among them the Przemyśl area.
In 1919 he was a chaplain with the Ukrainian Galician Army. From 1921 to 1943 he was pastor of St Nicholas parish in Peremyshliany, where he was known for helping the poor and orphans and for founding parish associations. During the German occupation he issued baptismal certificates to Jews; sources speak of more than six hundred, which helped them avoid arrest. He also spoke out openly against local violence.
He was arrested by the Gestapo, according to the Vatican biography in the spring of 1943 (some sources say December 1942), and taken to the Majdanek concentration camp near Lublin, Poland. He died in the camp infirmary on 25 March 1944. In 1999 the Jewish Council of Ukraine named him a righteous man of Ukraine. On 27 June 2001 Pope John Paul II beatified him in Lviv, in a group of 25 martyrs of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Works and witness
- Married priest and pastor of Peremyshliany for 22 years
- Chaplain with the Ukrainian Galician Army in 1919
- Issued hundreds of baptismal certificates to Jews
- Arrested and died in Majdanek on 25 March 1944
- Beatified in Lviv on 27 June 2001
Saints from the same country
References
- Pope John Paul II, beatification of 27 June 2001, Lviv (Vatican)
- Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, biography of Omelyan Kovch
- Martyrologium Romanum
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.