Bishop Mykhaylo Bubniy

Bishop Mykhaylo Bubniy is the Exarch of Odessa, Administrator of the Crimean Exarchate, and Head of the Patriarchal Commission for Monastic Affairs. He was born on 16 September 1970 in the village of Khlivchany, Sokal district, Lviv region. He received priestly ordination on 19 August 1997 from His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar, Father and Head of the UGCC. His episcopal chirotony took place on 7 April 2014 in the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv. His enthronement took place on 12 April 2014 in the church of the holy apostle Andrew the First-Called in Odessa. Childhood and education: He was born on 16 September 1970 in the village of Khlivchany, Sokal district, Lviv region. From 1977 to 1987 he studied at the Khlivchany secondary school, and from the autumn of 1988 to the autumn of 1990 he performed military service in the cities of Werder and Magdeburg, East Germany, in a communications battalion; his military specialty was radio telegraph operator. Priestly ministry: In 1991 he entered the Lviv Province of the Redemptorists. He made first vows on 19 August 1992, and on 7 April 1996 he made perpetual vows. He received priestly ordination from His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar on 19 August 1997 in the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Lviv. He received theological education and priestly formation at the Major Seminary of the Redemptorist Fathers in Krakow for philosophy and Tuchow for theology in Poland. He completed the seminary in 1998, obtaining a master's degree in theology. Bishop Mykhaylo recalled these years of study as follows: "I thank fate that I had the opportunity to study at the Major Seminary of the Redemptorists in Poland, because there I often met and communicated with missionaries from various countries, especially from Africa, Asia, South America, Argentina, Bolivia and other countries, since very many Redemptorists of the Warsaw Province worked and continue to work in various countries of the world. They gladly responded to the invitation of the seminary rector and came and told us, the students, about their missionary service, about the culture and challenges in those countries, about how people in mission territories had long awaited their apostles and received them with open hearts and listened attentively and with great interest to the Word of God and joined in parish life." After completing the seminary he served as prefect of candidates for the Lviv Province of the Redemptorists and as assistant priest at the parish of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God in Ternopil. In 1999-2001 he was vice-prefect of students at the Major Seminary of the Redemptorists in Tuchow, Poland. From 20 January to 30 June 2000 he took part in courses for educators at the Salesian University in Rome. In August 2001 he was appointed hegumen of the monastery and rector of the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Novoyavorivsk, Lviv region. On 27 June 2002, by decree of His Beatitude Lubomyr, he was assigned to work at the Postulation Center of the UGCC. From June 2002 to May 2005 he served as master of novices of the Lviv Province of the Redemptorists at the monastery of Saint Gerard in Kokhavyno, near Zhydachiv in the Lviv region. From 9 May 2005 to September 2007 he was hegumen of the monastery of Saint Alphonsus and rector of the Higher Spiritual Institute named after Blessed Hieromartyr Mykolay Charnetsky in Lviv. At the same time he conducted numerous parish retreats and missions for various groups of faithful in the Lviv and Ternopil regions and in the USA. From 2007 to 2010 he studied at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, obtaining a licentiate in canon law. From 2010 to 2014 he performed the duties of hegumen of the monastery of Saint Joseph and pastor of the Church of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Ivano-Frankivsk. Episcopal activity: On 13 February 2014 it was announced in the Vatican that the Holy Father Francis had blessed the decision of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to appoint Hieromonk Mykhaylo Bubniy, a Redemptorist, as Exarch of the Odessa Exarchate and Administrator of the Crimean Exarchate of the UGCC. The chirotony of the newly appointed Exarch of Odessa and Administrator of Crimea took place on 7 April 2014 in the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv, and the enthronement took place on 12 April of the same year in Odessa, in the church of the holy apostle Andrew the First-Called. The principal consecrator was His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and the co-consecrators were Archbishop and Metropolitan of Lviv Ihor Vozniak and Archbishop and Metropolitan of Ivano-Frankivsk Volodymyr Viytyshyn. Bishop Mykhaylo recalled the first challenges of episcopal ministry in the Odessa Exarchate as follows: "The problems and challenges that I encountered in the southern territories of Ukraine... First of all, there is a lack of clergy. There are quite many of our faithful here, but the problem is that they are scattered throughout the whole territory, in cities and villages. Although a quarter of a century has already passed since our Church came out from underground, a large part of these territories is still not embraced by the pastoral care of our Church. In those cities or villages where our parishes have already been founded, people rejoice that the mother Church has not forgotten them and that they have the opportunity to go to their Church, satisfy their spiritual needs, and grow spiritually in the faith of their fathers. Unfortunately, however, a large part of the southern territory where the faithful of our Church are scattered still does not have its own priests and our parishes, so people are forced to travel dozens or even hundreds of kilometers to take part in the Sunday Divine Service. Another considerable problem in building up our Church in these territories is, of course, financial difficulty. We are all aware that without finances not much can be built. A small community is not able to support a priest's family and build churches, so a significant part of this financial burden falls on the shoulders of the ruling bishop. Usually parishes in mission territories are founded by one or two families. It happens, but rarely, that several or a dozen or so Greek Catholic families gather at once to found a parish. Usually it happens that one family wants its own priest and appeals to the bishop to send a priest to them, and then the pastor comes and begins to serve in that family's home. Then they look for a suitable place where a larger number of people can gather, and then they make every effort to build a church. And so, step by step, the community grows and the Church is built." The motto on Bishop Mykhaylo Bubniy's episcopal coat of arms is: "Who is like God." "My main goal is development! The development of the Odessa and Crimean Exarchates. This means personal development, the development of parishes, the intellectual and spiritual development of my priests, and, of course, the building up of the church structures of the exarchates toward the creation of an eparchy, an archeparchy, and a metropolitanate," he says with a smile. "My priority is also the permanent formation of priests, so that those who already serve constantly have the opportunity to take part in various courses, for example refresher courses; a priest must constantly grow, both spiritually and intellectually. This is served by an educational program, a program of permanent formation for the clergy, and retreats. The spiritual, qualitative, and quantitative growth of the parish will also depend on how the priest works on himself and on his own growth. The southern territories urgently need our ministry. We must first provide for the needs of our UGCC faithful, but we must take into account that there are still many unbaptized people here, very far from God and spiritual life. Every year in Odessa alone there are several baptisms of adults. That is, people who come to our Church discover the spiritual world for themselves, open their hearts to God, and desire to serve Him in our Church. We do not close ourselves only to our own people. Our Church has always been open to all who desire and to those who seek God. Therefore meeting these spiritual needs of people is also a priority in my ministry in these territories. And I want to say that the future of our Church in these territories is very great!" This is how Bishop Mykhaylo Bubniy summarizes the vision of his episcopal ministry. By decision of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC of 14 September 2017, Bishop Mykhaylo Bubniy was appointed Head of the Patriarchal Commission for Monastic Affairs. On 30 May 2019, by decree of the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Bishop Mykhaylo Bubniy was appointed chaplain of the National Council of the Knights of Columbus in Ukraine. After the term of the decree expired, it was extended on 24 July 2024. On 6 October 2020, by decree of the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, "we, by the authority given to us, having received the consent of the Synod of Bishops, which took place on 29 September 2020 in the format of a telesession, online, resolution no. 10, taking into account the prescription of canon 114, § 2 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, extend the term of the above-mentioned decree." Therefore Bishop Mykhaylo Bubniy continued to serve as Head of the Patriarchal Commission of the UGCC for Monastic Affairs. Then at the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, which took place in Przemysl, Poland, during 7-15 July 2022, Bishop Mykhaylo Bubniy was again elected Head of the Patriarchal Commission for Monastic Affairs. The decree extending the effect of the previous decree was published on 16 July 2022.