Archbishop Volodymyr Viytyshyn

Archbishop and Metropolitan Volodymyr Viityshyn of Ivano-Frankivsk. Born on November 9, 1959, in the village of Demydivka (Haisyn District, Vinnytsia Region). Ordained a priest on May 27, 1982, by the Most Reverend Bishop Pavlo Vasylyk, Eparch of Kolomyia-Chernivtsi. Consecrated a bishop on July 15, 2003, at the Church of the Holy Archangel Michael in Kolomyia (Ivano-Frankivsk Region). Enthroned on July 12, 2005, at the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Ivano-Frankivsk. Childhood and family: Born on November 9, 1959, in the village of Demydivka (Haisyn District, Vinnytsia Region). His young parents, Ivan and Pavlina, had moved to Eastern Ukraine during a time of persecution in Galicia. Later, they returned to their homeland—to the family nest where their lineage originated—in the village of Letiache (Zalishchyky District, Ternopil Region). It is a picturesque place on the banks of the Dniester River that captivated every child from an early age. Two more children, Stepan and Liudmyla, were born into the Viityshyn family. The children held a special affection for their maternal grandfather, Mykhailo Hapyn, as it was he who taught them to pray. Wearing large black glasses and holding a leather-bound prayer book, he would pray every morning and evening, while his grandchildren listened and learned from him. He always read the *Horologion* (Book of Hours), a practice that took up several hours of his day. After prayer, the grandfather would tell his grandchildren the history of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. He would explain the nature of the priesthood, emphasizing what a great ministry it is. He used to say that one must not betray the path once chosen. He explained that the Church has many martyrs, beginning with Jesus Christ. On Christmas Eve, he always offered words of guidance. Grandfather Mykhailo Vasylovych would point out the Carpathian Mountains to his grandchildren—visible in clear weather—as well as the Ivano-Frankivsk region on the other side of the Dniester River. His mother’s father had owned two river mills, but the Soviet authorities confiscated them. That was precisely why the young Voityshyn couple moved to the Vinnytsia region—to avoid being deported to Siberia. Volodymyr Voityshyn’s childhood coincided with the Soviet era, a time when the Church was persecuted. The young schoolboy often wondered why icons were present in their home and those of their neighbors, yet absent from the school, where portraits of Lenin and Marx hung in their place. The student pondered the teachers' double standards: they treated the holy church with respect, exchanged polite holiday greetings, and observed religious feasts, yet taught atheism in the classroom. Such questions swirled in his young mind, and he sought answers on his own: why was there such falsehood and duplicity? Why was it forbidden to pray openly or to own and read the Bible? In the village of Letiache, the church was officially closed, but people came to pray, having fashioned their own keys. There was no priest in the village; only the cantor would read the parts of the Liturgy that could be performed. Nevertheless, the Voityshyn family always listened to radio broadcasts of church services from the Vatican. His parents told the children that listening to the Liturgy on the radio was just like being present in the church itself. In those days, the services were celebrated by the then-Fathers Sofron Mudryi, Myroslav Marusyn, and Myroslav Liubachivskyi. The family was considered politically unreliable during Soviet times. They were constantly under surveillance. KGB officers summoned the high school student Volodymyr Viityshyn for "educational" talks and attempted to intimidate him. On one occasion, KGB agents entered the house, climbed onto the bed in their shoes, and removed all the religious icons. They did this in broad daylight so that neighbors would see it and be afraid. This was a heavy burden for his mother, Pavlina. Yet, she did not remain silent: "Why are you taking the icons?" "Because they are nationalistic—they feature blue and yellow colors," a KGB agent exclaimed. "Then take the sun from the sky, because it is yellow, and the sky, because it is blue; and take down the rainbow, too, for it is also yellow and blue." This courageous woman filed a complaint with the village council and succeeded in getting the icons returned. When the icons were brought back, Pavlina Mykhailivna carried them home held high, so that everyone in Letiache could see that the authorities had not defeated God. Education: He received his primary education in the village of Letiache (Zalishchyky District, Ternopil Region). Afterward, he pursued his incomplete secondary education in the village of Strusiv (Terebovlya District, Ternopil Region) and completed his full secondary education in the village of Dorohychivka (Zalishchyky District, Ternopil Region). After finishing high school, he studied at an underground seminary, a process he was forced to interrupt for his military service (1978–1980). He completed his studies in 1982. Priestly Ministry: On May 27, 1982, he was ordained a priest by the Most Reverend Bishop Pavlo Vasylyk. During the years of the underground Church, he carried out pastoral work in many localities across the Ternopil and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. Fr. Volodymyr Viityshyn’s first parish was in the town of Tlumach in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. To this day, the Metropolitan maintains ties with his first parishioners from both the Greek Catholic and Orthodox churches. The hierarch always tells priests that every working father rises early and goes to work until evening to support his family. Clergy, in turn, must pray for these people from morning till night—blessing their labor and their families—so that the people do not drift away from the Church. Only then will there be healthy Ukrainian families, a healthy state, and a healthy nation. On August 4, 1987, at the initiative and under the leadership of Bishop Pavlo Vasylyk, he—along with several priests and laypeople—signed the Statement on the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church’s (UGCC) emergence from the underground. This document was presented to the Holy Father John Paul II and USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev. On May 16, 1989, on the eve of the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, he was a member of a delegation to Moscow advocating for the legalization of the underground UGCC (the delegation also included Bishops Philemon Kurchaba, Pavlo Vasylyk, and Sofron Dmyterko, as well as Fathers Hryhoriy Simkailo and Ihor Vozniak). Here is how Bishop Volodymyr himself recalls that heroic period in our Church’s history: "During the era of the communist 'perestroika and glasnost' under Gorbachev, Greek Catholic hierarchs and clergy realized that our Church needed to loudly proclaim its existence to the entire world in order to tear down the communist 'Iron Curtain' that separated us from the civilized world. Thus, on August 4, 1987, a statement was issued regarding the UGCC’s emergence from the underground—signed by a portion of the bishops, clergy, and faithful—so that, in the event of arrests, our Church would not be left without leadership, and the remaining bishops and clergy in Ukraine could continue their ministry to their people and to God." Another opportune moment during the Soviet communist authorities' declaration of *glasnost* and freedom of conscience was the celebration of the Millennium (1000th anniversary) of Christianity. On one hand, the Soviet authorities, together with the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Church, claimed to be the sole heirs of "Kievan Rus'," while in reality, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) remained underground. Subsequently, to address this duplicity, a delegation of bishops and clergy from the underground UGCC traveled to the Soviet capital. It was no ordinary trip: we went to Moscow carrying signatures collected from our bishops, clergy, monks, nuns, and the laity, aiming to secure the legalization and registration of the UGCC from the Soviet authorities. At that time, this stance taken by the UGCC arguably constituted the only real opposition to the "leading and guiding force of the USSR"—the Communist Party. We had planned to secure a personal meeting with General Secretary Gorbachev, but upon our arrival in Moscow, we discovered he had departed for a visit to China. When we arrived at the reception office of the CPSU Central Committee, no one was willing to receive us, and no official would agree to a meeting. They claimed, "We cannot receive you as representatives of the UGCC because it does not exist—you dissolved yourselves; we can only receive you as citizens of the USSR." They refused even to consider accepting or officially registering our statements and demands. After a brief consultation, the bishops and priests decided that if we were not received by 5:00 PM, we would declare a hunger strike right there in the reception office. Naturally, we were quickly surrounded by a large number of KGB agents and representatives from other agencies who took photographs and tried to persuade us otherwise, but we stood firm. We were likely saved from arrest because a number of foreign journalists took notice of us even before we entered the reception area. Within hours, Western radio stations like Radio Liberty and Voice of America were broadcasting reports that bishops and priests of the underground Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) had begun a hunger strike to demand the legalization of their Church. However, we also realized that the workday was ending; the building would soon be closed, and under that pretext, we could be taken away to an entirely different location. Our delegation of bishops and clergy then stepped out onto Red Square—a place saturated with communist symbols, featuring an honor guard at Lenin’s Mausoleum and a long line of lost souls moving to and from it. Since the hierarchs and priests were all wearing episcopal mantles and cassocks, complete with *panagias* and crosses, one can only imagine the impression we made on the communist authorities of "Red Moscow"—and on the foreigners present as well. Meanwhile, upon hearing "hostile voices" from abroad—reports that the bishops and priests who heard their confessions, administered communion, baptized their children, and performed their weddings had declared a hunger strike in Moscow—the most fearless among the UGCC faithful in the Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Ternopil, and Transcarpathia regions quickly packed their essentials and set off to show their support. Thus, the self-awareness, self-organization, and—above all—the spirit of self-sacrifice characteristic of Galicians (qualities that shine brightest during critical moments in Ukrainian history) once again came to the fore. In this way, the indefinite hunger strike by the clergy and laity for the legalization of the UGCC continued on the Arbat. Even today, twenty-five years later, the stance of those ordinary people—ready to stand openly and with dignity for the faith of their fathers and forefathers against the most powerful atheistic state of that era—evokes deep respect and emotion in me. To me, they are truly holy people whose ceaseless, fervent prayers led to the legalization of our Church and the registration of the first Greek Catholic communities in the USSR in December of that same year, 1989. Yet, five long years still remained until Ukraine’s independence. After the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church emerged from the underground, he continued his theological studies: first at the Ivano-Frankivsk Theological-Catechetical Institute, and subsequently at the Catholic University of Lublin, where he obtained a licentiate in pastoral theology in 2002. On May 14, 1999, His Beatitude Myroslav Ivan Cardinal Liubachivsky honored him with a high ecclesiastical distinction—the mitre. From 1990, he served as the parish priest and dean of Tlumach, and from 1997, as the bursar of the Kolomyia-Chernivtsi Eparchy. During this time, he also served as a judicial vicar and a member of the College of Consultors. Regarding his episcopal ministry: on May 13, 2003, Pope John Paul II appointed Mitred Archpriest Volodymyr Viityshyn as Coadjutor Bishop of the Kolomyia-Chernivtsi Eparchy. The rite of episcopal ordination was performed on July 15, 2003, by the Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Lubomyr Cardinal Husar. The co-consecrators were Bishops Pavlo Vasylyk and Sofron Mudryi. Following the death of the Bishop of Kolomyia-Chernivtsi, Pavlo Vasylyk, on December 12, 2004, Bishop Volodymyr Viityshyn—in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches—succeeded to the see of the Kolomyia-Chernivtsi Eparchy, becoming the Ruling Bishop of Kolomyia-Chernivtsi, and fulfilled these duties until June 2005. On July 11, 2005, the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, granted the request of Bishop Sofron Mudryi for retirement. Consequently, on June 2, 2005, Major Archbishop Lubomyr Husar, with the consent of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, appointed Bishop Volodymyr Viityshyn as the Bishop of Ivano-Frankivsk. The enthronement of the new eparch, Bishop Volodymyr, took place on July 12, 2005, succeeding the retired Bishop Sofron Mudryi, OSBM. On December 13, 2011—the Feast of Saint Andrew the First-Called—the Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, following the example of the Lviv Metropolis, proclaimed the establishment of the Ivano-Frankivsk Metropolis of the UGCC and installed its first metropolitan, Bishop Volodymyr Viityshyn. Metropolitan Volodymyr himself outlined the future work as follows: "The establishment of the Ivano-Frankivsk Metropolis is, for us, primarily a great responsibility and also a source of great joy. More than 125 years have passed since Stanyslaviv became an eparchial center. The creation of metropolises is largely due to the bishops who worked sacrificially within our eparchy, caring for the People of God entrusted to them; I wish to highlight, in particular, the bishops from the era of our Church's persecution—Sofron Dmyterko and Pavlo Vasylyk—who led the eparchy during the underground period and, following the Church's legalization, initiated the creation of a second eparchy in the Ivano-Frankivsk region: the Kolomyia-Chernivtsi Eparchy. I must also mention the fruitful work of Bishop Sofron Mudryi, who for a long time served as the voice of Vatican Radio for us and subsequently worked on developing the eparchial structures of the Ivano-Frankivsk Eparchy." Much work lies ahead, but first and foremost, everything must be properly registered legally before we can proceed with work in specific areas. A distinctive feature of the Metropolis is the people who live within it; they have their own unique ethnic backgrounds. We have our own customs, rites, celebrations, and styles of church decoration and iconography. We pay special attention to our youth, their catechesis, and their unique mission within the Church. Therefore, we will place even greater emphasis on ensuring that every parish in our Metropolis conducts catechesis and multifaceted work with young people, while continuing to develop and improve parish-based catechetical schools. Our distinctiveness lies not in legal aspects, but in the full beauty of our daily church and social life." From 2004 to 2018, Metropolitan Volodymyr also served as the Patriarchal Bursar, leading and organizing the operations of the Patriarchal Bursar’s Office. "I served as Patriarchal Bursar for 14 years. His Beatitude Lubomyr called upon me when I was a young bishop; less than a year had passed since my appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Kolomyia. I told His Beatitude that I could not refuse him, but that if he found someone else, I would gladly hand over these duties. During this long period, our Church developed actively, and the seat of the Head of the UGCC was returned to Kyiv. Now, the main seat is here in Kyiv, where the Head of the Church and his Curia operate. Naturally, therefore, both the Patriarchal Bursar and the Bursar’s Office must be located in Kyiv. Possessing money is not the Church's goal; its task is to have the means to carry out its ministry. The Church performs its ministry for its faithful, for needy individuals of various nationalities and religions, and for society as a whole. "To achieve this, resources are needed to implement various programs; in other words, funds are required to finance specific projects," says Bishop Volodymyr, reflecting on his long years of service. On December 9, 2009, President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko awarded Bishop Volodymyr Viityshyn the Order of Merit, 3rd Class, "for significant personal contribution to the implementation of state social programs, active charitable work, and on the occasion of Charity Day." Additionally, by Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 336/2016 dated August 19, 2016, he was awarded the jubilee medal "25 Years of Ukraine's Independence." Here are some thoughts and memories regarding the life of Archbishop and Metropolitan of Ivano-Frankivsk, Volodymyr Viityshyn, shared by his sister, Liudmyla Zaiats (Viityshyn): "My brother Volodymyr, who is eight years my senior, was my greatest protector. He was always sincere, kind, and composed. From 1982 to 1984, I studied at the Nadvirna Technical College. Volodymyr would drive me—I was 17 at the time—to my classes, and we would talk a lot along the way. It was a difficult time... Our mother was summoned to the prosecutor's office. One day I said, 'Brother, I’m scared for all of us; we need to find a way to hide from this Soviet regime.' But he said with such confidence: 'Lusia, don't worry. The Soviet Union will collapse!' 'How could that happen?' I asked, unable to believe it. 'It’s such a powerful force!' 'The Roman Empire was powerful too, but it fell apart. You’ll see—the Union will fall as well,' he replied. Those words really reassured me. My brother said this a full ten years before our country declared its independence. The greatest influence on him came from a fighter for Ukraine, a patriot, a spiritual giant, and a spiritual father—the underground bishop Pavlo Vasylyk." He ordained my brother on the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord in 1982, in our native village and our family home. The event took place in secret; the whole family was present in our house. Sister Tykhona from Buchach was very fond of Volodymyr, and she, too, attended the ordination. Father often drove my brother to a clandestine home where the nuns lived, so they could pray together. I vividly remember the time Volodymyr was leaving for the army. He was being taken in a truck and asked the driver to stop near the church. He stepped out, knelt down, prayed, and asked God for His blessing.