Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky
Redemptorist bishop who endured years of Soviet imprisonment
- Rank
- Blessed
- Kind
- Bishop, Martyr, Religious
- Life
- 1903 – 1973
- Era
- 20th century
- Feast
- 27 June
- Countries
- Ukraine, Canada
Life story
He was born on 1 June 1903 in Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk), then part of Austria-Hungary. He joined the Redemptorists, made his first vows in 1925 and was ordained a priest. He then worked mainly in Volhynia in western Ukraine, preaching and serving the faithful.
In 1945, after the Soviet Union took control of western Ukraine, the NKVD arrested him in its campaign against the Greek Catholic Church. He was sentenced to death, but the sentence was later reduced to ten years of hard labour. He was released in 1955 and returned to Lviv. In 1963 he was consecrated a bishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church; Church biographies say this was done in secret.
In 1969 he was arrested again for his religious activity and served three more years. In 1972 he was released and expelled from the Soviet Union. He went to Canada and died on 30 June 1973 in Winnipeg, aged 70, from injuries carried from prison. On 27 June 2001 Pope John Paul II beatified him in Lviv with the group of Ukrainian martyrs. His memorial is 27 June.
Works and witness
- Redemptorist, ordained a priest in 1925
- Arrested by the NKVD in 1945; death sentence reduced to ten years of hard labour
- Released in 1955; consecrated bishop in 1963
- Imprisoned again for three years from 1969
- Died on 30 June 1973 in Winnipeg; beatified in 2001
Saints from the same country
References
- Pope John Paul II, beatification of 27 June 2001, Lviv (Vatican)
- Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, biography of Bishop Vasyl Velychkovsky
- Martyrologium Romanum
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.