Василій Величковський Микола Чарнецькийі. Церква Петра
і Павла. Новояворівськ.
Photographie : Nashastudiya
Bienheureux Basile VELYCHKOVSKY
Nom: VELYCHKOVSKY (VELYCOVSKYJ)
Prénom: Basile (Vasyl)
Nom de religion: Basile (Vasyl)
Pays: Ukraine
Naissance: 01.06.1903 à Stanislaviv
(actuellement Ivano-Frankivsk)
Mort: 30.06.1973 à Winnipeg (Canada)
Etat: Évêque - Rédemptoriste - Martyr du Groupe
des 25
martyrs d'Ukraine 2
Note: Rédemptoriste et prêtre en 1925. Professeur et
missionnaire à Volyn. Higoumène à Ternopil. Emprisonné à Kiev de 1945 à 1955.
Ordonné secrètement évêque en 1963. Emprisonné une seconde fois en 1969, il est
autorisé à se rendre à Rome, puis à Winnipeg au Canada où il meurt le 30 juin
1973.
Béatification: 27.06.2001 à Lviv
(Ukraine) par Jean Paul II
Canonisation:
Fête: 27 juin
Réf. dans l’Osservatore Romano: 2001 n.26
p.1-5 - n.27 p.9-10 - n.28
p.12 - n.29 p.2.5
Réf. dans la Documentation Catholique: 2001 n.15
p.747-749
Notice
Vasyl (Basile) Velycovskyj (Velychkovsky) naît le 1er juin
1903 à Stanislaviv (aujourd'hui Ivano-Frankivsk). En 1920, il entre au
séminaire grec-catholique de Lviv. Il fait ses premiers vœux de religieux
Rédemptoriste à Holosko près de Lviv en 1925 et est ordonné prêtre le 9 octobre
1925. Frère Basile est professeur et missionnaire à Volyn. En 1942, il devient
higoumène (Prieur) de son monastère de Ternopil. C'est là qu'il est arrêté en
1945 et emmené à Kiev. Sa peine de mort est commuée en 10 années de travaux
forcés. Il retourne à Lviv en 1955. En 1963, il est ordonné secrètement
archevêque à Moscou. En 1969, il est emprisonné pour la seconde fois et
condamné à une peine de 3 ans. Ce confesseur de la foi, déjà proche de la mort
est relâché et autorisé à se rendre à Rome, puis à Winnipeg au Canada où il
meurt moins d'un an plus tard, le 30 juin 1973.
SOURCE : http://www.abbaye-saint-benoit.ch/hagiographie/fiches/f0551.htm
VASYL’ VSEVOLOD VELYCHKOVS’KYI
Évêque, Martyr, Bienheureux
1903-1973
Il y a plusieurs
graphies possibles pour cet évêque martyr, selon la manière dont on transcrit
l’alphabet cyrillique : Vasyl Velyckovskyj ou Basil Velychkovsky.
Né le 1er juin 1903 à Stanislaviv
(l’actuelle Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine), de Volodymyr Velychkovskyi et Anne
Theodorovych, catéchistes, qui avaient dans leurs deux familles une longue
tradition de prêtres. Vasyl eut tôt le désir de sauver les âmes et pour cela,
de devenir prêtre.
Après le lycée de Horodentsi,
avec la fougue patriotique de ses quinze ans, il entra dans l’armée qui se
battait pour la liberté de la mère patrie, durant la Première guerre mondiale,
puis il entra au séminaire de Lviv en 1920.
Ordonné diacre en
1924, il commença alors son noviciat dans la Congrégation du Très Saint
Rédempteur à Holosko près de Lviv, et fit sa première profession en août 1925.
Ayant déjà fait ses études sacerdotales au séminaire, il fut ordonné dès la fin
du noviciat par l’évêque Joseph Botsian à la prêtrise.
Ses supérieurs
avaient tout de suite remarqué son talent de missionnaire, de sorte que, après
deux années d’enseignement au juvénat de Volyn, on l’envoya avec d’autres
confrères pour des missions à Stanislaviv.
En 1928, il arriva au
monastère de Kovel et, de là, développa beaucoup de missions en terre de
Galicie, cherchant à regagner toutes ces populations qui étaient passées à
l’Église Orthodoxe Russe. Il créa maintes églises et chapelles.
Revenu à Stanislaviv
en 1935, il y fut supérieur, tout en continuant son activité missionnaire, même
quand le gouvernement commença à persécuter l’Église Gréco-Catholique en 1939.
En 1940, par exemple,
il organisa une procession à travers les rues de Stanislaviv, où participèrent
quelque vingt-mille personnes.
Sans se soucier de la
menace de la police soviétique, il se rendit en Ukraine centrale, pour
travailler avec les Ukrainiens orthodoxes de Kamianets-Podilskyi : cependant,
les allemands récemment arrivés sur place craignirent que l’activité du père
Vasyl eût des rapports avec la résistance ukrainienne, et le prièrent de
quitter la ville dans les vingt-quatre heures.
Le père Vasyl fut
alors nommé prieur du monastère de Ternopil en 1942.
Les Soviétiques
reprirent la Galicie en 1945. Dans la seule nuit du 10 au 11 avril, ils
arrêtèrent toute la hiérarchie de l’Église Gréco-catholique.
Arrêté pour propagande
antisoviétique à Ternopil le 26 juillet 1945, le père Vasyl reçut la
proposition d’être libéré s’il se rattachait à l’Église Orthodoxe russe. Sa
réponse fut courte et claire : Jamais !
Envoyé à la prison de
Kiev, il y attendit deux années avant d’être condamné à mort, pour avoir en
1939 qualifié l’armée soviétique de horde rouge et de troupe
rouge.
Les mois qui
suivirent sa condamnation, le père Vasyl continua son apostolat auprès des
prisonniers.
Un beau jour, on lui
annonça que sa peine était commuée à 10 ans de travaux forcés. Le père Vasyl
passa d’abord deux ans dans la région de Kirovsk, puis fut transféré aux mines
de Vorkuta, au-dessus du cercle arctique. Là il s’occupa des autres
prisonniers. Ceux-ci s’arrangèrent pour le faire travailler seulement dans
l’hôpital, plutôt que dans les mines, de sorte qu’il put célébrer la Messe,
même en cachette, presque tous les jours.
En 1955, à la fin de
sa peine, il put retourner à Lviv. Il n’y avait plus d’église pour célébrer.
Sans se décourager, il se construisit un petit autel dans un appartement, où il
recevait des fidèles par petits groupes.
En 1959, il fut nommé
évêque de l’Église gréco-catholique ukrainienne «clandestine», mais ne put être
consacré qu’en 1963, par le Métropolite Slipyj à Moscou.
Le missionnaire était
infatigable et intrépide. Il rédigea un ouvrage sur Notre-Dame du Perpétuel
Secours, où il démontrait que les athées ne peuvent pas être de bons citoyens ;
en plus, il écoutait Radio Vatican.
Tous ces graves
délits le conduisirent, en 1969, à une nouvelle arrestation, qui dura
cette fois-ci trois ans, à Kommunarsk (Donbass), où, entre des séances de
tortures, il assista encore d’autres prisonniers.
Il fut remis en
liberté en 1972, lorsque son état de santé déclina. On dit qu’avant de le
libérer, on lui injecta une substance inconnue.
Il vint d’abord en
Yougoslavie, où il retrouva sa sœur à Zagreb.
Il se rendit alors à
Rome, où il rencontra le patriarche Slipyi et le pape Paul VI, puis à Winnipeg
(Canada), où il mourut le 30 juin 1973.
Vasyl Velyckovskyj a
été béatifié le 27 juin 2001.
On donne parfois pour
date de sa mort le 30 juillet.
Bienheureux Vasyl Velychkovsky, CSsR
Né en 1903 à Stanislaviv, en Galicie (aujourd’hui
l’Ukraine occidentale), de parents pieux (son père était prêtre), à 15 ans
Vasyl s’enrôle dans l’armée afin de combattre pour l’indépendance de l’Ukraine
pendant la première guerre mondiale. En 1920 il entre au séminaire de Lviv et
est ordonné diacre. Il rejoint ensuite les Rédemptoristes et devient
missionnaire. En aout 1925 il prononce ses voeux et, en octobre, il est ordonné
prêtre. Il enseigne, dirige des missions et devient prieur du monastère de
Stanislaviv.
Après l’occupation de l’Ukraine occidentale par les
Soviétiques en 1939, il continue son oeuvre apostolique et, en 1941, il se rend
dans le centre de l’Ukraine. Ses activités, toutefois, éveillent les soupçons
des Allemands et, à peine trois jours après son arrivée, il reçoit l’ordre de
partir. Les Soviétiques occupent à nouveau la Galicie en 1945 et le 7 aout le
Père Vasyl est arrêté « pour propagande antisoviétique » et transféré à la
prison de Kiev. Il est condamné à être fusillé et pendant trois mois, comme
condamné à mort, il enseigne aux prisonniers, les instruit des vérités de la
foi chrétienne et les prépare à recevoir les sacrements. Finalement sa peine
est commuée en une peine de 10 ans d’emprisonnement dans les mines de charbon
du nord de la Russie, où il continue de célébrer la Divine Liturgie presque
chaque jour, utilisant comme vases sacrés tout ce qu’il trouve.
De retour à Lviv, après sa libération en 1955, il
poursuit son apostolat dans la clandestinité et en 1959 il est nommé évêque.
Ordonné en 1963 dans une chambre d’hôtel de Moscou par le métropolite Josyf
Slipyj, qui vient d’être libéré de prison et est en route vers le Concile
Vatican II, il est constitué son vicaire en son absence. En 1969 il est
condamné à trois ans de séjour dans un hôpital psychiatrique où il est torturé
et drogué. Une fois libéré, il est exilé de l’Ukraine. Il passe quelques temps
en Yougoslavie, puis à Rome et finalement, à l’invitation de l’archevêque
ukrainien de Winnipeg, arrive au Canada. Ici il donne des retraites au clergé
jusqu’au jour de sa mort, le 30 juin 1973. Il est béatifié par le pape
Jean-Paul II en 2001 avec d’autres martyrs grecs-catholiques ukrainiens.
LIEN : http://archeparchy.ca
SOURCE : http://www.crc-canada.org/biographies/bienheureux-vasyl-velychkovsky-cssr/
LA VIE ET
LA SPIRITUALITÉ DU BIENHEUREUX BASILE VELYCHKOVSKY
Le 27 juin,
l'Église au Canada célèbre la vie et le témoignage du bienheureux Basile
(Vasyl) Velychkovsky.
Né en 1903
à Stanyslaviv (aujourd'hui Ivano-Frankivsk) en Galicie orientale, aujourd'hui
l'Ukraine occidentale, Mgr Velychkovsky est ordonné prêtre en octobre 1925 par
l'évêque de Lutsk, Mgr Josyf Botsian.
En 1959, le
Siège apostolique nomme le Père Velychkovsky évêque de l'Église
grecque-catholique ukrainienne clandestine. Il est ordonné évêque en 1963 dans
une chambre d'hôtel de Moscou par le métropolite Josyf Slipyj, qui vient d'être
libéré de prison et est en route vers le Concile Vatican II.
Le
métropolite Slipyj le constitue locum tenens, personne responsable de l'Église
grecque-catholique ukrainienne clandestine d'Ukraine en son absence. Mgr
Velychkovsky travaille à renforcer l'Église clandestine.
En 1969, il
est appréhendé après avoir écrit un livre sur Notre Dame du Perpétuel Secours.
À
l'invitation de l'archevêque ukrainien catholique de Winnipeg, le métropolite
Maxim Hermaniuk, également Rédemptoriste, Mgr Velychkovsky vient vivre au
Canada.
Il donne
des retraites au clergé, mais sa visite à la diaspora ukrainienne du Canada ne
dure pas longtemps.
Le 30 juin
1973, Mgr Velychkovsky décède à l'âge de 70 ans à Winnipeg, où il est enterré.
Ses reliques, un corps parfaitement intact, sont maintenant enchâssées dans
l'église ukrainienne catholique Saint Joseph's, à Winnipeg.
La
présentation sur sa vie et sa spiritualité s'inscrit dans le cadre d'une
initiative de la Conférence des évêques catholiques du Canada (CECC) pour
célébrer l'Année de la vie consacrée.
L'Office
pour l'évangélisation et la catéchèse du Secteur anglais de la CECC a également
préparé des ressources catéchétiques (en anglais seulement) sur la vie et la
spiritualité du bienheureux Basile Velychkovsky.
Also known as
- Basil Velychkovsky
- Vasyl Velyckovskyj
- Vasyl Velychkovsky
Profile
His sentence served,
he returned to Lviv in 1955. Bishop of the “clandestine” Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, of the
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. Archbishop in 1963. Arrested again for his faith, and for listening to Vatican Radio, in 1969. Sentenced to three years in the camps, where, between torture sessions, he ministered to other prisoners. When his health failed, he was released. Travelled to Rome, Italy and then to Winnipeg, Canada. Confessor of the faith.
Born
BLESSED
VASYL VELYCHKOVSKY,C.Ss.R. BISHOP and MARTYR
The twentieth century is
known as a century of martyrs. Millions of people gave up their lives for
Christ. In the Soviet Union under the atheistic regime many Christians,
especially Ukrainian Catholics laid down their lives rather than deny Jesus
Christ and His Church.
Honoring this sacrifice,
Pope John Paul II beatified a number of martyrs for the Ukrainian Catholic
Church on June 27, 2001. Among the martyrs was Nicholas Charnetsky and his
twenty-four Companions. They all shared their martyrdom under the Soviet
regime, mostly during and after the Second World War. Among the Companions was
the Redemptorist Bishop, Vasyl Velychkovsky.
Blessed Vasyl was born into
a priestly family in Stanislaviv, now called Ivano-Frankivsk, on June 1, 1903.
His father was an assistant at the Cathedral where Vasyl was baptized. His
family soon moved to the village of Shuparka near Borshchiv. Here Vasyl was
raised and educated, mainly by home schooling. The First World War interrupted
his studies.
In 1911 during a mission at
his grandfather’s church in Probizhnia, young Vasyl was dedicated to the Mother
of God. Throughout his life he referred to this event as pivotal, since he
always sensed himself under the protection of her loving care. After becoming a
Redemptorist, he promoted devotion to our Mother of Perpetual Help with every
mission he conducted. The rosary for him was a pillar of strength throughout
his imprisonment.
After the War Blessed Vasyl
completed his high school and entered the Major Seminary in Lviv. After being
ordained a deacon by Metropolitan Andrij Sheptytsky, Blessed Vasyl entered the
Redemptorist novitiate in Holosko in 1924. On October 9, 1925 he was ordained
in the chapel in Zboisk to the priesthood by Bishop Josyf Botsian. The
following two years he taught at the minor seminary, but his heart was in
preaching missions. Recognizing his gift of preaching, he was soon assigned to
the missions, first in Stanislaviv and in 1928 to Volyn.
In Volyn he worked out of
Kovel among the Orthodox faithful, who wished to join the Catholic Church, and
among Ukrainian Catholic immigrants from Halychyna. Here he had much success.
His sensitivity to the ways of the eastern Orthodox made him dearly loved by
the people. Unfortunately, political strife between the Poles and the
Ukrainians caused him to leave Volyn in 1935.
He returned to Stanislaviv
where with other Redemptorists he continued his parish missions. He went from
village to village preaching a two week long Redemptorist Mission. He preached
to hundreds of thousands of faithful.
When the Second World War
began and the Soviets first occupied Western Ukraine, Blessed Vasyl was in
Stanislaviv serving in a thriving Redemptorist mission church. His heart went
out, especially to the poor country folk that came to the city to earn a
living. In 1940, on the feast of our Mother of Perpetual Help , while the city
was occupied by the Soviets, Blessed Vasyl dared to have a procession of 20,000
people through the streets of Stanislaviv. After the procession he was
arrested. Fearing the people who were ready to shed their blood for him , the
Soviets released Father Vasyl.
Since he had experience
working with the Orthodox, he was sent by Metropolitan Sheptytsky to Kamianets
Podilsk in Greater Ukraine in 1941. At that time the city was under German
occupation. There, as in Volyn, he experienced a great spiritual revival. However
he was forced to leave as his life was threatened by the German army.
In 1944, Blessed Vasyl
volunteered to go to Ternopil even though the Soviet front had already arrived.
Amidst the shelling of the city, he did his pastoral work courageously and
boldly.
In the spring of 1945 the
Soviets sought to arrest him, but he eluded them by going from village to
village giving missions. Finally on August 7, 1945, the Soviets came to the
monastery in Ternopil and arrested him. He was given a chance to deny his faith,
leave the Catholic Church and serve as a Russian Orthodox priest. He quickly
responded with “No, Never.” Even though he was offered freedom and life if he
would accept their proposal, he responded with “you can shoot me and kill me
but you will not get any other answer.”
After one year of
interrogations and tortures in the KGB prison in Kiev, he was finally sentenced
on June 26, 1946 to die by firing squad. He was on death row for three
months. While in the cell with others on death row, he catechized them and
prepared them through the sacraments for their coming death. When his name was
called, he left the cell ready to die for Christ, but at that moment, his death
sentence was commuted to ten years in Soviet labour camps.
He spent most of his years
working in the coal mines of the Vorkuta region above the Arctic Circle.
Accused of inciting a strike among the prisoners in the fall of 1953, he was
transferred to a most severe prison in Vladimir, near Moscow. After protesting
his innocence, he was sent back to Vorkuta.
When his prison sentence
was completed, he was sent to Lviv. He became instrumental in organizing the
underground church. Some called him the Father of the Underground
Church. His apartment became the centre of church activity: Divine
Liturgies, administering the sacraments, catechesis, preparing seminarians,
counseling and the like. He also began to organize religious sisters, even
though the monasteries were official closed, and taught them a new way of
living out their monastic and religious life. Many a vocation was fostered by
Father Vasyl’s guidance and care. In 1959 Rome appointed Fr. Vasyl to be bishop
of this underground church. Unfortunately there were no bishops in Ukraine who
could ordain him.
In 1963, Metropolitan Josyf
Slipyj was released from 18 years of Soviet labour camps to attend the Second
Vatican Council in Rome. While in Moscow, he called Fr. Vasyl to come
immediately to his hotel room in Hotel Moskwa. When Fr. Vasyl arrived,
Metropolitan Josyf began the Rite of Ordination to the episcopacy. The secret
ordination finished and Metropolitan Josyf was taken to Rome. Bishop Vasyl
returned to Lviv to do his episcopal work.
On January 27 of
1969, Bishop Vasyl was again arrested. He was accused of anti-Soviet agitation
in a book he wrote on The Icon of the Mother of perpetual Help, for listening
to Vatican radio and for baptizing people. He was sentenced to a three year
prison term in Komunarsk in Eastern Ukraine. There he underwent chemical,
physical and mental torture. The Soviets attempted to extract information from
him about the underground church but were unsuccessful. Near death in 1972, he
was released from prison and was exiled from Ukraine.
Metropolitan Maxim
Hermaniuk invited Bishop Vasyl to come to Winnipeg, Canada in June, 1972.
Overcome by the tortures and death causing drugs he received while in prison,
he died a martyr’s death on June 30, 1973. After the funeral services in Sts.
Vladimir and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, he was buried on July 5 in All
Saints Cemetery near Winnipeg.
After Blessed Vasyl was
beatified by Pope John Paul II, preparations began for the exhumation and
enshrinement of his holy relics. His holy body was exhumed on September 16,
2002. Following Vatican protocol, it was examined by a team of doctors and
church personnel. His holy body was found to be fully intact with all its
muscle mass. His holy body was revested with new vestments and placed in a
stainless steel sarcophagus. On September 22, 2002, his holy relics were
enshrined in a chapel in St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada. Pilgrims come and pray before Blessed Vasyl , seeking his
powerful intercession.
On July 20, 2014 during the
All-Ukraine Pilgrimage to Zarvanytsia, Ukraine, Patriarch Sviatoslav solemnly
proclaimed Blessed Vasyl to be the Patron of Prison Ministry for the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
SOURCE
: http://www.bvmartyrshrine.com/his-life/
Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky proclaimed Patron of
Prison Ministry
June 22, 2015
On July 19, 2014 in Zarvanytsia Blessed Vasyl
Velychkovsky was proclaimed Patron of Prison Ministry. This is a TV report of
the event.
On July 20, 2014 before a crowd of 200,000
people during the All-Ukraine Pilgrimage to Zarvanytsia, Ukraine, Patriarch Sviatoslav
solemnly proclaimed Blessed Vasyl as the Patron of Prison Ministry for the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. This proclamation was made at the Pontifical
Divine Liturgy at this Marian Shrine during the “Little Entrance”. The Decree
was read by Bishop Bohdan Dzurah.
Blessed Vasyl was chosen by the Synod of the UGCC as Patron of Prison Ministry
because of the example of ministry that he gave while he was imprisoned on
death row and later in the labor camps in Vorkuta , the place of Russian coal
mines above the Arctic Circle.
Biography
On June 27, Catholic Church in Canada celebrates
the life and witness of Blessed Vasyl Vsevolod Velychkovsky. Born in 1903 in
Stanyslaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk), in Eastern Galicia, today's Western Ukraine.
In 1920 he entered the seminary in Lviv. In 1925 he took his first religious
vows in the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer and was ordained a priest by
the Most Reverend Josyf Botsian, Bishop of Lutsk. As a priest-monk Vasyl
Velychkovsky taught and preached in Volyn. In 1942 he became hegumen of the
monastery in Ternopil. Because of religious persecution by the Soviet
Government he was arrested and sent to Kyiv. The death penalty was changed to
10 years of hard labor.
In 1959, the Apostolic See appointed Father Velychkovsky
a Bishop of the underground Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church. He was ordained a
Bishop in 1963 in a Moscow hotel room by Metropolitan Josyf Slipyj, who had
just been released from prison and was on his way to the Second Vatican
Council. Metropolitan Slipyj made him the locum tenens, the person in charge of
the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in Ukraine during his absence. Bishop
Velychkovsky worked to strengthen the underground Church. In 1969, he was
arrested after writing a book on Our Mother of Perpetual Help. Three years
later, he was deported out of the Soviet Union. Following the invitation of the
Ukrainian Catholic Archbishop of Winnipeg, Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk, who
was also a Redemptorist, Bishop Velychkovsky came to live in Canada. Stricken
with a heart disease stemming from his imprisonment, he told a Canadian
audience, "The prisons and camps ruined my health and my strength, but
this was my fate; the Lord God placed this cross on my shoulders." He gave
retreats to clergy, but his visit among the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada did
not last long. On June 30, 1973, Bishop Velychkovsky died at the age of 70 in
Winnipeg, where he was buried. Thirty years after his death, Vasyl
Velychkovsky's body was found to be almost incorrupt, his toes had fallen off
and were subsequently divided to be used as holy relics. Beatified in 2001, the
intact remains of Blessed Bishop and Martyr Vasyl Velychkovsky are enshrined at
St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
BL VASYL VELYCHKOVSKY, CSSR, MARTYR FOR CHRIST...
This article first appeared in THE
PRAIRIE MESSENGER and was written by BRENT KOSTYNIUK who
lives in Edmonton, has a bachelor of theology from Newman and is a freelance
writer. He and his wife Bev have been married for 36 years and have eight
grandchildren.
When I was in Grade 3, our teacher asked the class
what we would do if someone came into the room and threatened to shoot anyone
who was Christian. It was an incredibly scary prospect back then and it still
is today. Yet there are brave and faithful people who resist any temptation to
deny their faith and face martyrdom instead. Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky did
exactly that.
Vasyl Velychkovsky was born in 1903 into a priestly
family in Western Ukraine. His father was a priest, as were both his
grandfathers. After serving as a rifleman in the First World War, Vasyl entered
the Major Seminary in Lviv, Ukraine. During his diaconal year, in 1924, he
joined the Redemptorist Congregation. He was ordained to the priesthood on Oct.
9, 1925, in Stanislaviv. Early on, his gift of preaching was recognized and he
was assigned to give parish missions in the Volyn region.
During this period, the region was under Polish
control and there was strong pressure for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
to become polonized. Father Vasyl refused to do this. Instead, he strived to
unite the faithful under Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky. Because of this, he
was forced to leave Volyn in 1935. He returned to Stanislaviv where he spent
the next several years giving traditional Redemptorist two-week-long missions.
In June 1940, with the Soviets occupying Western Ukraine, Father Vasyl led a
procession of some 20,000 people through the streets of Stanislaviv on the
occasion of the feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
Several days later, Father Vasyl was arrested for
alleged anti-Soviet activity. For the first, but not the last, time, Father
Vasyl was tortured. After a day the police released him fearing growing
protests mainly from women and children who had taken part in the procession.
Father Vasyl continued to preach to Ukrainian Catholic faithful throughout the
war. However, in 1945, with the war coming to a close, the Soviets renewed
their oppression of the Catholic Church. On April 10 many of the Ukrainian
Greek Catholic bishops and clergy were arrested. Father Vasyl managed to
continue to give missions in small villages but was finally arrested on August
7, 1945, at the monastery in Ternopil. He was given the opportunity to join the
Russian Orthodox Church and be released. Father Vasyl refused. With an
authoritative voice he replied: “No, never! Under any circumstances . . . I
have said NO once and for all; and you can shoot me, and kill me, but you shall
get from me no other word.”
Over the next 10 months Father Vasyl was tortured
until he confessed to crimes he never committed. He was interrogated 11 times.
Usually these were conducted at night and lasted up to 12 hours. Sleeplessness,
isolation, food deprivation, physical and moral abuse helped to breakdown his
willpower until he finally confessed to anti-Soviet activity.
His trial was held on June 26, 1946. Without
representation or witnesses, he was quickly found guilty and sentenced to
execution by firing squad. He spent the next three months on death row, but
even there preached, heard confessions and help prepare fellow prisoners for
death. One day his name was called. He left his cell ready to give up his life
for his beliefs. However, his sentence was changed to 10 years of hard labour
in the Soviet laager camps, working under the worst possible conditions. During
this time Father Vasyl heard confessions, preached and even celebrated the
divine liturgy daily, using a large tablespoon as his chalice and wine made
from raisins.
In July 1955 Father Vasyl was released and sent to
Lviv. By this time it was illegal to openly practice the Ukrainian Greek
Catholic faith. For the next 36 years, until the fall of the Soviet Union, the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church survived underground. Father Vasyl’s apartment
became a centre of religious activity as he organized a secret church. A
cabinet became an altar, an ordinary wooden jewelry box a tabernacle and a
plastic flowered lamp the eternal flame. Working clandestinely, he gave
retreats in homes. More importantly, he accepted apostate priests who had
signed with the Russian Orthodox Church. They were required to confess the
symbol of faith and receive a penance for their action.
In 1959 the Vatican appointed Rev. Vasyl Velychkovsky
to the episcopacy. Unfortunately, there were no bishops in Ukraine who could
consecrate him. Thus, he was eventually forced to travel to Moscow. On Feb. 4,
1963, he was secretly consecrated by Metropolitan Josyf Slipyj in a hotel room.
During this period, secret seminaries were organized in Lviv and Ternopil. Text
books for philosophy and theology were copied by hand. Seminarians did not know
each other and even family members rarely knew about their sons’ vocations.
Only the bishop was aware of all the priests. Looking into an uncertain future,
Bishop Vasyl consecrated fellow Redemptorist Father Volodymyr Sterniuk to the
episcopacy on July 2, 1964. Bishop Volodymyr’s identity was kept secret. He was
not to function as a bishop until such time as Bishop Vasyl was either exiled
or died. It would prove to be a prophetic action.
In 1968, a new wave of persecutions began as the
Soviet government sought to eliminate the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church once
and for all. Fearing arrest, Bishop Vasyl consecrated four more bishops who
would remain secret and not function unless absolutely necessary.
Many priests were discovered and arrested. Then, on
Jan. 27, 1969, Bishop Vasyl was arrested. He was taken to a prison in Lviv
where he remained for the eight months prior to his trial. Once again, he was
interrogated numerous times in order to make a solid case for his trial. His
health deteriorated and at one point he was declared clinically dead.
Bishop Vasyl’s trial took place in Lviv on Sept. 23,
1969. The charge was “since he was an adherent of the Greek Catholic Church, he
systematically and knowingly spread verbally and in written form false
information about the Soviet communist government.” Inevitably he was found
guilty and sentenced to three years’ incarceration in a hard labour correctional
institution of strict regime. The sentence was served in Komunarsk in a prison
hospital for the psychologically ill. In fact, he was gravely ill. Years in the
laager camps had taken their toll. Several toes had frozen off and now his feet
became so swollen that he was unable to walk. He recovered from this only to be
subjected to an insidious form of torture. He was injected with drugs, which
systematically caused heart disease and destruction of the nervous system. He
was also tortured with electric shocks. On his release in early 1972, those who
saw him said he wasn’t a person, only a skeleton.
Their work of destroying Bishop Vasyl done, the Soviet
authorities now wanted to be rid of him. He was sent to visit his sister Vera
in Zagreb. However, his passport did not allow his return to Ukraine.
Unknowingly, he had been exiled. After two weeks in Zagreb, on Feb. 22, 1972,
Bishop Vasyl travelled to Rome on the invitation of Cardinal Josyf Slipyj,
himself living in exile. Here Bishop Vasyl had an audience with Pope Paul VI.
While in Rome, Bishop Vasyl received an invitation
from Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk to come and live in Winnipeg. Taking up the
offer, he arrived in Canada on June 15, 1972. Here in spite of the damage done
to him during his second incarceration, Bishop Vasyl visited all five Ukrainian
Catholic eparchies in Canada and even summoned enough strength to give priests’
retreats. However, death was inevitable. On June 30, 1973, Bishop Vasyl died a
martyr’s death.
On June 27, 2001, Bishop Vasyl was beatified by Saint
Pope John Paul II in a ceremony in Lviv. Then, in September 2002, Bishop
Vasyl’s body was transferred to a shrine built in St. Joseph’s Ukrainian
Catholic Church in Winnipeg. Upon exhumation, it was found that his body
remained fully intact, considered a sign of sainthood.
Today, the Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky Shrine is
visited by thousands of pilgrims annually, with many denominations represented.
His story is a source of inspiration and his relics have become a source of
healing. Moreover, in no small measure, Bishop Vasyl’s faith, enthusiasm and
courage ensured the life of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in her homeland
during a time of fierce persecution. May his memory be eternal.
SOURCE : http://www.redemptorists.co.uk/news/news-items/1298-blessed-vasyl-velychkovsky-cssr-martyr-for-christ.html
Beato Basilio (Vasyl) Velyckovskyj Vescovo e martire
Stanislaviv, Ucraina, 1 giugno 1903 - Winnipeg,
Canada, 30 giugno 1973
Il beato ucraino Vasyl Vsevolod Velychkovskyj, dopo essere passato
sotto indicibili persecuzioni, morì settantenne a Winnipeg in Canada nel 1973.
Apparentemente di morte naturale; in realtà l'autopsia stabilì che il decesso
era avvenuto per una dose di veleno a lento effetto, somministrata al vescovo
prima della partenza per l'esilio, nel 1972. Si concluse così la sua odissea.
Nato nel 1903, aveva combattuto 15enne la guerra di indipendenza nazionale.
Divenuto poi prete tra i Redentoristi, gli toccò combatterne un'altra contro il
comunismo. La sua fama tra il popolo era tale che a lungo il regime non lo
toccò. Ma nel 1945 fu arrestato e condannato alla fucilazione. La pena gli fu
commutata in 10 anni di lager, al termine dei quali tornò a Leopoli, dove operò
in clandestinità. Così come in
segreto, in una camera d'albergo, venne consacrato vescovo, nel 1963. Espulso,
dopo una visita alla sorella in Jugoslavia e una tappa a Roma, dove fu ricevuto
da Paolo VI, si avviò a un esilio impossibile. (Avvenire)
Emblema: Bastone
pastorale
Martirologio
Romano: A Winnipeg nello Stato di Manitoba in Canada, beato Basilio
Velyčkovskyj, vescovo della Chiesa greco-cattolica di Ucraina e martire, che,
per aver esercitato clandestinamente il suo ministero tra i cristiani cattolici
di Rito bizantino patì molto in patria da parte dei persecutori della fede e
morì in esilio, associato al sacrificio di Cristo.
Vasyl Velychkovskyj nacque il 1° giugno 1903 a Stanislaviv (odierna
Ivano-Frankivsk) in Ucraina. All’età di soli quindici anni partecipò alla guerra di indipendenza
ucraina (1918-1919), al termine della quale entrò nel seminario di Lviv
(Leopoli). Dopo aver ricevuto il diaconato, entrò nella Congregazione del
Santissimo Redentore. Conferitagli poi 9 ottobre 1925 l’ordinazione
presbiterale, si dedicò anima e corpo per oltre vent’anni alle missioni tra la
gente semplice dei villaggi e delle città, non solo nell’Ucraina Occidentale.
La sua intensa e fervida azione apostolica favorì la conversione al
cattolicesimo di molti laici ed alcuni sacerdoti ortodossi. Proseguì
imperterrito la sua attività anche durante la prima occupazione sovietica, tra
il settembre 1939 ed il giugno 1941.
Tanto era grande la fama di Vasyl Velychkovskyj presso il popolo che il governo
non osava toccarlo. L’11 aprile 1945, però, venne infine arrestato insieme a
tutta la gerarchia greco-cattolica. Il lungo processo si svolse a Kiev e durò quasi
due anni, alla fine fu condannato alla fucilazione. Nei tre mesi in attesa
dell’esecuzione si dedicò alla cura pastorale dei compagni di prigionia e la
pena gli venne poi commutata in dieci anni di carcere. Sul finire dell’autunno
1945 iniziò dunque per lui un lungo periodo di lavori forzati in diversi lager,
ma ciò nonostante continuò in segreto a celebrare quotidianamente la liturgia.
I dieci anni di vita nei lager compromisero seriamente la sua salute, ma egli
riuscì comunque a sopravvivere e, liberato nel 1955, fece ritorno a Lviv, dove
continuò a svolgere clandestinamente l’attività pastorale. Nel 1959 ricevette
dalla Santa Sede la nomina a “Vescovo della Chiesa del silenzio”, ma il
perdurare della persecuzione permise la consacrazione episcopale solo nel 1963,
a Mosca, in una camera d’albergo. Il 2 gennaio 1969 fu nuovamente arrestato e
condannato a tre anni di reclusione, ma dopo alcuni mesi fu già rilasciato in
quanto soffriva gravemente di cuore.
Arrestato ancora una volta, dopo la liberazione avvenuta il 27 gennaio 1972 le
autorità sovietiche non gli permisero di fare ritorno a Lviv, bensì gli
proposero di recarsi dalla sorella residente in Jugoslavia. Da lei soggiornò
per breve tempo, poi si recò a Roma dove l’8 aprile 1972 fu ricevuto da Paolo
VI. Infine il 15 giugno 1972 andò a Winnipeg in Canada, dove morì il 30 giugno
1973, all’età di settant’anni. Un testimone rese pubblico che, dopo la sua
morte, i medici provarono che il vescovo era stata somministrata una sostanza
velenosa a lento effetto prima della sua partenza per la Jugoslavia, affinché
la morte potesse risultare naturale.
Vasyl Velychkovskyj fu beatificato da Giovanni Paolo II il 27 giugno 2001,
insieme con altre 24 vittime del regime sovietico di nazionalità ucraina.
Autore: Fabio
Arduino
