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.
SOURCE : http://nova.evangelisation.free.fr/basil_velychkvsky.htm
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
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.
SOURCE : https://mondieuetmontout.com/Bx.-Basile-Velychkovsky.html
Corps conservés des
saints
Russie et Ukraine
Nº 679
1903 – 1973
Dix années de goulag
n’ébranlent pas la foi de Vasyl Velychkovsky
Bienheureux Vasyl
Velychkovsky (1903 – 1973), évêque de l’Église gréco-catholique ukrainienne,
fait preuve d’une fidélité au Christ héroïque face à la persécution soviétique.
Emprisonné et torturé pour sa foi, il réussit à transformer sa longue captivité
au goulag en mission d’évangélisation. Libéré mais très affaibli par sa
détention, il continue de témoigner du Christ, jusqu’à sa mort en exil, le 30
juin 1973, des suites des mauvais traitements subis. Il est béatifié en 2001
par Jean-Paul II.
Les raisons d'y croire
En 1945, l’Église
gréco-catholique ukrainienne est interdite par le régime soviétique, et
Velychkovsky refuse de rejoindre l’Église contrôlée par l’État. Sa fidélité,
face aux persécutions, montre la cohérence et la force de sa foi catholique,
qu’il sait être une vérité absolue et non négociable.
Il passe alors dix ans au
goulag, subissant tortures, mauvais traitements et humiliations. Il continue à
prier, à célébrer l’Eucharistie en secret et à venir en aide à ses codétenus.
Les archives historiques démontrent sans aucun doute possible la résistance
psychologique et physique de Vasyl, bien supérieure aux capacités humaines
habituelles. Sa force intérieure et sa paix surnaturelle ne peuvent qu’être
l’action de la grâce et s’expliquent par sa foi vivante en Dieu, qui soutient
ses témoins.
Il ne maudit jamais ses
geôliers et, après sa libération, il ne cherche ni vengeance ni revanche. Il
témoigne publiquement, avec paix et humilité, du pardon et de l’espérance
chrétienne. Le pardon accordé aux persécuteurs est un trait spécifiquement
chrétien, conforme aux paroles du Christ « Aimez vos ennemis, et priez pour
ceux qui vous persécutent » ( Mt 5,44
).
Son œuvre missionnaire
clandestine dure plus de vingt-cinq ans, sans que le pouvoir soviétique
réussisse à arrêter son labeur. Alors que son apostolat a été vécu dans un
contexte hostile très fort, les fruits de celui-ci sont nombreux, variés et
durables. Vasyl parvient à former des prêtres, à évangéliser et à fortifier la
foi de son peuple dans des conditions impossibles. La fécondité de sa mission,
sans moyens humains visibles, est donc liée à l’action de Dieu lui-même, dans
la logique de l’Évangile : « C’est dans la faiblesse que se déploie la
puissance de Dieu » ( 2 Co 12,9 ).
De façon globale, la vie
de Vasyl Velychkovsky manifeste une unité éloquente entre ce qu’il croit, ce
qu’il enseigne et ce qu’il vit, jusqu’au don total de lui-même. Une telle
cohérence donne un poids crédible à son témoignage, et sa vie même devient un
argument en faveur du Christ.
Le 16 septembre 2002,
trente ans après son décès, son corps est exhumé à Winnipeg. Conformément au
protocole, la dépouille est examinée par une équipe pluridisciplinaire,
médicale et ecclésiastique : à la surprise générale, le corps est
entièrement conservé, la masse musculaire est intacte, la peau souple, les yeux
encore visibles, comme « s’il avait été enterré la veille ». Seule la perte des
orteils (conséquence du gel enduré en prison) est constatée. Le procès-verbal
d’exhumation contient les éléments d’identification formelle du corps, le
relevé de la température ambiante, l’état des tissus, des lividités, de la
conservation musculaire et cutanée, le processus de reconditionnement, etc.
En savoir plus
Vasyl Velychkovsky naît
le 1er juin 1903 à Stanislaviv (aujourd’hui Ivano-Frankivsk), dans le royaume
de Galicie et de Lodomérie, en Ukraine occidentale. Sa famille est pieuse : son
père est prêtre orthodoxe et veille à transmettre un enseignement religieux
digne de ce nom à ses enfants. Le jeune Vasyl prend rapidement conscience de
l’importance de la foi dans sa vie, celle des siens et de son pays. Il
n’oubliera jamais cet attachement spirituel au Christ.
Au début de 1918, il s’enrôle
dans l’armée ukrainienne pour défendre l’indépendance du pays dans le premier
conflit mondial. Mais le métier des armes ne lui convient pas vraiment. Il prie
avec ardeur pour tous ses camarades, mais aussi pour les ennemis, et ne songe
qu’à secourir chaque blessé et à enterrer dignement les morts.
En 1920, il entre au séminaire
de Lviv (Ukraine). C’est le début d’un engagement définitif par lequel il se
donne corps et âme à Dieu. Ordonné diacre quatre ans plus tard, il décide de
demander son admission chez les Rédemptoristes,dans le village de Holosko, près
de Lviv. Sa tentative est couronnée de succès et il devient missionnaire, comme
il l’avait tant espéré. Le 9 août 1925, il prononce ses vœux, puis, le 9
octobre suivant, il est ordonné prêtre par l’évêque de Lutsk, Mgr Josyf
Botsian. Il se voit confier de multiples tâches, notamment dans la province de
Volhynie : catéchèse, enseignement de la théologie, accompagnement des
novices, missions dans les campagnes, gestion administrative du monastère de
Stanislaviv… Rien ne semble en mesure de l’arrêter. Ses frères en religion
observent l’incompréhensible endurance de Vasyl. Tous s’interrogent :
quand dort-il ?
Son énergie, sa piété et
son discernement hors du commun font de lui le candidat parfait pour accéder
aux fonctions de responsabilité au monastère. Élu prieur, il cumule les tâches
sans pour autant tomber dans l’hyperactivité : c’est un homme parfaitement
équilibré, privilégiant une vie spirituelle d’une abondante richesse malgré le
poids du travail temporel.
Après l’occupation de
l’Ukraine occidentale par les Soviétiques, en 1939, il poursuit son œuvre
apostolique sans jamais perdre confiance en la Providence ni céder à la
tentation du désespoir. Les obstacles – idéologiques et militaires – à son
apostolat semblent lui passer totalement au-dessus de la tête… On tente de le
freiner, notamment par des menaces physiques, mais en vain. Une force invisible
le pousse à chaque instant à se dépasser.
Mais l’annexion de la
Galicie à l’URSS entraîne sa première arrestation par le NKVD (police politique
soviétique) en raison de la persécution exercée contre l’Église
grecque-catholique ukrainienne par le pouvoir de Moscou. Loin d’être refroidi
par cet épisode, Vasyl estime qu’il doit poursuivre le don total de lui-même à
Dieu.
En 1941, il se rend dans
le centre de l’Ukraine pour poursuivre son évangélisation. Mais ses activités
éveillent les soupçons des nazis. À peine trois jours après son arrivée, il
reçoit l’ordre d’évacuer la région sous peine de graves poursuites. Peu
importe, il continue et, à compter de ce jour, rentre dans la clandestinité,
prenant pour exemple les premiers chrétiens dans les catacombes de Rome.
L’année suivante, en pleine guerre, il est nommé supérieur du couvent de
Ternopil.
En 1945, Vasyl a échappé
aux tueries du conflit. Mais les Soviétiques occupent à nouveau la Galicie. Le
7 août, il est arrêté par le NKVD pour « propagande antisoviétique »
et transféré à la prison de Kiev. Après un jugement de pacotille et un chantage
l’invitant à se convertir à l’orthodoxie pour avoir la vie sauve, il est condamné
à la peine de mort. Pendant trois longs mois, dans l’attente du peloton
d’exécution, il enseigne l’Évangile aux autres prisonniers et les prépare à
recevoir les sacrements.
Finalement, sa peine est commuée
en une peine de dix ans de travaux forcés dans les mines de charbon du nord de
la Russie, dans le cercle arctique. S’il vient d’échapper à la mort physique,
son calvaire ne fait que commencer.
En effet, les conditions
de détention sont épouvantables : absence de soins, disette, travail épuisant,
froid glacial… Une fois de plus, Vasyl trouve dans la prière la force de vivre
l’Évangile dans un tel contexte. Il distribue ses maigres rations de nourriture
à ceux qui en ont le plus besoin et il continue de célébrer la divine liturgie
chaque jour, utilisant comme vases sacrés tout ce qu’il peut trouver parmi les
rares objets de bois servant à la restauration.
Il effectue intégralement
sa peine et n’est libéré qu’en 1955, après avoir passé plus de 3 600 jours dans
l’enfer d’un goulag soviétique, sans jamais avoir perdu la foi ni même s’être
arrêté de la proclamer !
Son aventure ne s’arrête
pas là. De retour à Lviv, il poursuit son apostolat dans la clandestinité,
sachant que, si les autorités politiques l’arrêtent une seconde fois, ce sera
purement et simplement l’exécution.
Le clergé ukrainien,
soumis à de fréquentes pressions, connaît l’héroïsme spirituel de Vasyl et, en
1959, le bienheureux est nommé évêque de l’Église grecque-catholique
ukrainienne clandestine. Mais la cérémonie d’ordination doit attendre
1963 : elle a lieu dans une chambre d’hôtel de Moscou et est présidée par
le métropolite Josyf Slipyi, lui-même fraîchement libéré et en partance pour le
concile Vatican II !
Évêque ou non, la
surveillance policière redouble à son encontre. Il se sait constamment
surveillé, et même traqué. Mais, comme il l’a toujours fait, il évangélise de
plus belle. En 1969, il est à nouveau fait prisonnier et condamné pour avoir
rédigé un livre sur Notre Dame du Perpétuel Secours : il est enfermé trois
ans dans un « hôpital psychiatrique », lieu de privation de liberté
et de déstructuration des personnes considérées comme hostiles au régime en
place. Il y vit un véritable martyre. Torturé et drogué, ses jours sont en
danger. Mais ses bourreaux sont perplexes : comment Vasyl parvient-il à proclamer
sa foi dans un tel univers ?
Une fois libéré, malade,
il est exilé hors d’Ukraine. Il passe quelques mois en Yougoslavie, puis à
Rome. À l’invitation de l’archevêque ukrainien catholique de Winnipeg, le
métropolite Maxim Hermaniuk, également rédemptoriste, Mgr Velychkovsky se rend
au Canada (Manitoba), où il est accueilli à bras ouverts. Il y prêche des
retraites au clergé local jusqu’au jour de sa mort, le 30 juin 1973, à l’âge de
soixante-dix ans.
Trente ans après son
décès, le corps de Vasyl Velychkovsky est retrouvé intégralement conservé, à
l’exception de ses doigts de pieds, qui étaient tombés et qui ont donc été utilisés
pour faire des reliques. Des guérisons (notamment de cancers) et des
conversions ont été rapportées par des personnes qui ont prié à côté de ces reliques.
Son corps repose dans une châsse en l’église grecque-catholique ukrainienne
Saint-Joseph de Winnipeg.
Il est proclamé
bienheureux le 27 juin 2001 à Lviv par Jean-Paul II.
Patrick Sbalchiero,
membre de l’Observatoire international des apparitions et des phénomènes
mystiques.
Aller plus loin
La thèse de Kseniya
Kavats (2014) : « The
Arrest and Imprisonment of Bishop Vasyl Velychkovsky, 1945–1955 ». Fondée
sur des archives du SBU (ex-KGB), elle détaille l’arrestation et le procès.
En complément
Vasyl Velychkovsky,
compilé par le P. John Sianchuk and le P. Stephen J. Bachtolowsky, Be Not
Afraid A Martyr’s Story. An Autobiography of Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky, C.Ss.R.,
Redeemer's Voice Press, Yorkton, Sask. , Canada, 2002
Le site Internet du
sanctuaire de Winnipeg : « Bishop Velychkovsky National
Martyr’s Shrine. Canada’s Second Martyr’s Shrine ».
Une notice
biographique en anglais est disponible sur le site des Rédemptoristes du
Royaume-Uni.
L’article universitaire
de John Sianchuk, paru dans Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern
Europe :« Blessed
Vasyl Velychkovsky, Father of the Underground Church in Ukraine ».
Blessed Vasyl
Vsevolod Velychkovskyi
Also
known as
Basil Velychkovsky
Vasyl Velyckovskyj
Vasyl Velychkovsky
27
June as one of the Martyrs
Killed Under Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe
Profile
Son of catechists
Volodymyr and Anne Theodorowych Velychkovsky. Greek
Catholic. Entered the seminary
in Lviv, Ukraine
in 1920.
Ordained
on 9
October 1925.
Teacher
and missionary
in the Volyn region of Ukraine.
Prior
of the monastery
at Ternopil, Ukraine
in 1942.
Arrested
for his faith
at Ternopil in 1945,
condemned to death,
and sent to Kiev, Ukraine
where his sentence was changed to ten years in a forced labour camp. There he
ministered to other prisoners.
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
1
June 1903
in Stanislaviv, Ukraine
30
June 1973
at Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada
of natural causes
buried
in Winnepeg
relics
now enshrined
in Saint Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Winnipeg
24
April 2001
by Pope
John
Paul II (decree of martyrdom)
27
June 2001
by Pope
John
Paul II in Ukraine
Additional
Information
other
sites in english
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001
edición
fonti
in italiano
Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi
Martirologio Romano, 2005
edition
nettsteder
i norsk
MLA
Citation
‘Blessed Vasyl Vsevolod
Velychkovskyi‘. CatholicSaints.Info. 12 August 2023. Web. 16 September 2026.
<http://catholicsaints.info/blessed-vasyl-vsevolod-velychkovskyi/>
SOURCE : http://catholicsaints.info/blessed-vasyl-vsevolod-velychkovskyi/
THE LIFE AND SPIRITUALITY
OF BLESSED VASYL VELYCHKOVSKY
On June 27, the Church in
Canada celebrates the life and witness of Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky. Born in
1903 in Stanyslaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk), in Eastern Galicia, today's Western
Ukraine, Bishop Velychkovsky was ordained a priest by the Most Reverend Josyf
Botsian, Bishop of Lutsk. 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. 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. 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. His relics, a fully intact body,
are now enshrined in Saint Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Winnipeg.
The following outline of
his life and spirituality is part of an initiative by the Canadian Conference
of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) to celebrate the Year of Consecrated Life. The CCCB English Sector Office for
Evangelization and Catechesis has developed catechetical resources on the life
and spirituality of Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky .
Bl. Vasyl Velychkovsky
Feastday: June 27
Birth: 1903
Death: 1973
Beatified: 27 June 2001, Lviv Hippodrome, Ukraine by Pope John Paul II
Having entered the Order
of the Most Holy Redeemer, Vasyl Velychkovsky, of Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, was
ordained a Byzantine
Rite Catholic
priest at
the age of twenty-two. In 1945, while serving as hegumenos (prior) of his
order’s monastery in Ternopil, Father Velychkovsky was arrested by the Russian
Communists’ secret
police (the KGB) and sentenced to death. The sentence was
subsequently commuted to a ten-year prison term of hard labor. Following his
release in 1955, Father Velychkovsky resumed his priestly labors. In 1963, he
was secretly consecrated metropolitan
(archbishop) of Moscow
by his predecessor in this office, who had just been ordered to leave the
country by the Soviet government. In 1969, Metropolitan
Velychkovsky was again arrested and imprisoned. Three years later, he was
deported out of the Soviet Union. Stricken with a heart disease stemming from
his imprisonment, the metropolitan
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.” Metropolitan
Velychkovsky died two weeks later, on June 30, 1973.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5798
Mercy Unbound - Ukrainian
Martyr Bishop Vasyl Velychkovsky - A Man for Our Times
The Story of the
Redemptorists
Fr. John Sianchuk, a
Redemptorist priest and part of the Redemptorists of the Yorkton Region,
Province of Canada spoke on Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky. The Yorkton
Redemptorists are an Eastern Church branch of the Congregation of the Most Holy
Redeemer. They serve the Ukrainian Catholic Church in North America and are
based in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada. Alongside work in parishes, with
young adults and youths, and numerous retreats and missions, the order also
celebrates unique ministries like the Shrine to Blessed Martyr and Bishop Vasyl
Velychkovsky, who was also a Redemptorist.
A Martyr of Ukraine
Blessed Vasyl
Velychkovsky (1903–1973) was a priest, and later bishop, of the Ukrainian Greek
Catholic Church, one of the Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with Rome.
He died in 1973 of his injuries sustained while imprisoned by the Soviet Union,
and is considered a martyr of the faith.
Early Life
Velychkovsky was born in
then-Austria-Hungary. In 1920, he entered the seminary in Lviv. In 1925, he
took his first religious vows in the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer
(better known as the Redemptorists) and was ordained a priest. In 1942, he
became abbot of the monastery in Ternopil.
Courage Under Persecution
Because of religious
persecution by the Communist Soviet Union, he was arrested in 1945 by the NKVD
and sent to Kyiv. The punishment of death was commuted to 10 years of hard
labor. He was released in 1955 and returned to Lviv, where he was ordained as
bishop in 1963. In 1969, he was imprisoned for three years for his religious
activities. Released in 1972, he was exiled outside the USSR. He was tortured
and suffered much while imprisoned and eventually died of those injuries in
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on June 30, 1973, at the age of seventy.
An Incorruptible Exhumed
Thirty years after his
death, Vasyl Velychkovsk’s body was found to be nearly incorrupt; his toes had
fallen off and were subsequently divided to be used as holy relics. He was
beatified in 2001; the intact remains of Vasyl Velychkovsky are enshrined at
St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
A Witness Enshrined
Doctor Thatcher visited
the shrine five years ago while giving a mission in Winnipeg and was deeply
touched. He was a brave man and suffered much at the hands of the Soviets. He
continued to preach and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. Blessed Vasyl’s
courage under persecution is particularly relevant in this time of Russia's
invasion of Ukraine. He is an inspiration for all of us.
SOURCE : https://thedivinemercy.org/videos/ukrainian-martyr-bishop-vasyl-velychkovsky-man-our-times
Blessed Vasyl (Basil)
Vsevolod Velychkovsky (1903-1941)
Vasyl Vsevolod
Velychkovskyi was born on 1st June 1903, in Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk)
to a family of the Velychkovskyi’s and Teodorovych’s, both of which had had a
long tradition of priests in their families. Vasyl’s parents, Volodymyr and
Anna, brought up their children in a spirit of Christian devotion. That is why
Vasyl had a desire to work for the salvation of souls since his very childhood.
Vasyl Velychkovskyi
received his gymnasium education in the town of Horodentsi. Being an ardent
patriot, the fifteen-years-old gymnasium student joined the Ukrainian Galician
Army to fight for the independence of his motherland during World War I. After
his safe return from the army in 1920, Vasyl Velychkovskyi entered the Lviv
seminary. In 1924, he was ordained a deacon by Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytskyi.
It was at that time that Velychkovskyi discovered his monastic vocation. With
assistance from his aunt Monica, he joined the Redemptorist novitiate and a
year later, on 29 August 1925, he professed the vows of poverty, chastity and
obedience. Since Velychkovskyi had already completed his theological studies,
he was ordained a priest by Bishop Y. Botsian immediately after completing the
novitiate, on the 9th of October of the same year.
From the very beginning
of Fr. Velychkovskyi’s monastic life, his superiors noticed his talent as a
missionary. In order to develop this talent, after Fr. Velychkovskyi spent two
years teaching at the Redemptorist gymnasium “Juvenate”. He was also sent to Stanislaviv
to conduct missions together with his more experienced confreres. This was the
beginning of Fr. Velychkovskyi’s apostolic work, which lasted for 20 years –
until the beginning of the persecution of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
On 16 November 1928 Fr.
Velychkovskyi arrived at the Redemptorist monastery in Kovel. There, he
immediately became involved in missionary work among the Galician settlers,
scattered throughout the Volhyn, Pidliashshia, Kholm and Polissia regions, who
had departed from the Greek-Catholic Church and joined the Russian Orthodox
Church. Along with this work among the Galician settlers, Fr. Velychkovskyi
also organized missions for the local population of Volhyn, Polissia, and
Belarus. Using financial support from Metropolitan Sheptytskyi and other
sponsors, he founded several churches and chapels. In 1935 Fr. Velychkovskyi
returned to the Stanislaviv monastery and became superior there.
Fr. Velychkovskyi
continued his apostolic activity on a large scale, even though the Greek
Catholic Church underwent persecution at the hands of the Soviets after their
occupation of Western Ukraine in 1939. In 1940 he organized a procession in
which some 20 thousand faithful participated carrying crosses through the
streets of Stanislaviv,. Despite the threats from Soviet secret police, Fr.
Velychkovskyi did not give up. In 1941, on Metropolitan Sheptytskyi’s request,
he departed for Central Ukraine to work with the Orthodox Ukrainians of
Kamianets-Podilskyi. However, the pro-Ukrainian activities of the new priest
caused suspicion among the Germans who had recently occupied the town. Just
three days after his arrival, Fr. Velychkovskyi was accused of cooperating with
Ukrainian national resistance organizations and was ordered to leave the town
in twenty-four hours. He moved to Ternopil and became superior of the Dormition
church monastery in that town.
Having seized Galicia for
the second time in 1945, the Soviet regime in just one night of 10-11 April
arrested representatives of the entire Greek-Catholic hierarchy. On 26 July
1945 Fr. Vasyl Velychkovskyi was arrested in Ternopil – “for anti-Soviet
propaganda”. During the interrogation, he was offered the option of joining the
Russian Orthodox Church in exchange for his freedom. The answer was: “Never!”
Later Fr. Velychkovskyi was transferred to Kiev prison, where the investigation
of his case lasted for almost two years. Finally, the Kiev regional court
sentenced him to death – for two anti-communist phrases (“red horde” and “red
gang”) which occurred in a pocket calendar issued by Fr. Velychkovskyi in
Stanislaviv in 1939.
During the three months
spent in a death row cell, Fr. Velychkovskyi continued performing his duties of
a priest. He taught prisoners to pray; he instructed them on the truths of
Christian faith and prepared them for receiving the Holy Sacraments. He led
them to the doors of heaven. Finally, the night came when the guards led Fr.
Velychkovskyi out of his cell. However, they did not go downstairs, to the
place of execution, but upstairs, to the office of the prison administration.
There, Fr. Velychkovskyi was informed that his death sentence was changed to a
ten-year prison term.
In the first two years of
his term Fr. Velychkovskyi was in a prison camp in the Kirovsk region; later,
he was transferred to the Vorkuta mines. Despite the exhausting work, Fr.
Velychkovkyi celebrated the Liturgy almost every day – using tins for
liturgical accessories. “That tin” – says Metropolitan Hermaniuk – “was his
chalice, his dyscos, his altar, his church … and nothing was able to destroy
his church, for it was [based on his] strong conviction and God’s grace”.
Several months before his release, Fr. Velychkovskyi’s fellow prisoner friends
managed to arrange for him to work in the prison hospital rather than in the
mines. This change saved his life – for his health had been ruined by ten years
of imprisonment and exhausting labour. On 9 July 1955 Fr. Velychkovskyi was
released.
After his return to Lviv
Fr. Velychkovskyi did not find any church or chapel where he could serve, but
this did not discourage him. He occupied a small room in number 11
Vozzyednannia Street. Here, he built an altar out of empty cardboard boxes. The
faithful visited Fr. Velychkovskyi in groups of five or six to participate in
Liturgies. During the period of the Greek-Catholic Church’s underground
existence, he was not afraid to celebrate daily Liturgy, to conduct spiritual
exercises, and to provide spiritual leadership for many devoted Christians. In
1959 the Apostolic See appointed Fr. Vasyl Velychkovskyi a bishop of the
“Silent Church”; because of a complicated situation in the Soviet Union, his
Episcopal ordination became possible only four years later.
The ten-year-long
imprisonment did not “correct” or change Bishop Velychkovskyi. He continued
“spreading anticommunist propaganda among the people, did not participate in
socially-useful work, did not perform the duties of a Soviet citizen; he wrote
a book about the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, wherein attempts were made
to prove through specific examples that atheists cannot be good citizens; he
listened to Vatican radio broadcasts”. This list was sufficient to justify a
new arrest of Bishop Vasyl Velychkovskyi on 2 January 1969. This time the
imprisonment lasted for three years; the term was served in Kommunarsk near
Donbass and was the cause of severe heart disease for Bishop Velychkovskyi.
On 27 January 1972, the
second term of imprisonment was over. This time bishop Velychkovskyi was not
allowed to return to Lviv; instead, he was sent to Yugoslavia for “recreation”.
He used this opportunity to visit his sister in Zagreb and then Bishop
Velychkovskyi departed for Rome, where he met Patriarch Yosyf Slipyi. He also
had a private conversation with Pope Paul VI. Shortly afterwards, following the
invitation of Metropolitan Maksym Hermaniuk, Bishop Velychkovskyi visited
Canada.
Unfortunately, his visit
to the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada did not last for long. Bishop Velychkovskyi
died on 30 June 1973 at the age of 70 having served as a bishop for 10 years.
Although his heart became silent in his body, it continues to sound in our
souls: “Fear none of those things which thou shall suffer: behold, the devil
shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have
tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown
of life” (Rev 2,10).
Taking into account the
testimonies of Bishop Vasyl Velychkovskyi’s virtuous life, and particularly his
endurance, courage and faithfulness to Christ’s Church during the period of
persecution, the beatification process was started on the occasion of the
Jubilee Year. On 2 March 2001, the process was completed on the level of the
eparchy, and the case was handed over to the Apostolic See. On 6 April 2001,
the theological committee recognized the fact of bishop Velychkovskyi’s
martyrdom. On 23 April his martyrdom was verified by the Assembly of Cardinals,
and on 24 April 2001 Most Holy Father John Paul II signed a decree of
beatification of Bishop Vasyl Velychkovskyi, a blessed martyr of our Christian
faith.
SOURCE : https://www.redemptorists.ie/pray-with-us/beatified-redemptorists/
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.
SOURCE : http://archeparchy.ca/news_details.php?news_id=196
North American Sanctity: Blessed Bishop Vasyl Velychkovsky
June 27, 2024
Father Vasyl decided to
give his fellow inmates a 10-day mission about the faith. He made Rosary
beads from bits of bread, which hardened to become makeshift beads. It is no
wonder that Blessed Vasyl is now the patron of prison ministry.
Welcome to "North
American Sanctity," a series on holy men and women, boys and girls,
saints and those on the road to sainthood, from Canada, the United States, and
Mexico. Some will be familiar, others less so; but all are inspiring!
By Kimberly Bruce
He may not have been born
in Canada, but he was exiled and died there, and a national shrine of Canadian
martyrs is named for him. He is Blessed Bishop Vasyl Velychkovsky (feast day: June
27), a Ukrainian Greek Catholic bishop martyred for the faith after the Soviet Union’s
takeover of Ukraine during World War II.
Considered the “Father of
the Underground Church” in Ukraine, Bishop Velychkovsky was imprisoned and
severely tortured by the Soviets. Exiled to Canada, within a year he died of
his injuries. He was beatified a martyr by Pope St. John Paul II in 2001, and
his body, exhumed in 2003, was found to be incorrupt.
The Bishop Velychkovsky National Martyr’s Shrine,
dedicated to this great man of faith, was Canada’s second shrine built to honor
martyrs. (Canada’s National Shrine to the
Canadian Martyrs was the first.) Built in 2002 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the
Velychkovsky Shrine contains the remains of his body. It is a place where
pilgrims come to pray, ask for Bl. Vasyl’s intercession, and visit the shrine’s
museum.
Soldier for Christ
Vasyl was born on June 1, 1903, to devout parents, Volodymyr and Anna.
Volodymyr was a married Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest, as clerical marriage
is a common tradition in the Eastern Catholic Church.
At age 15 Vasyl joined
the Ukrainian Galician Army during World War I to fight for his country’s
independence. During his service, he discerned the best way to fight for his
homeland was to become a “soldier for Christ.” He entered a seminary in Lviv in
1920 and soon joined the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the
Redemptorists).
During his third year in
seminary, he made the decision to be a celibate diocesan priest and was
ordained in 1925. Choosing not to marry was unusual in his Church’s tradition,
as most diocesan priests married before their ordination. Once ordained, like
our deacons today, they can never marry.
Soviet persecution
Father Vasyl was a missionary who then became Superior at a monastery in
Stanislav. Once the Soviets began their occupation and persecution of Catholics
in Ukraine in 1939, Fr. Vasyl moved to central Ukraine and then to Galicia,
where he became Superior of the Dormition Monastery.
Then in 1945, the Soviets
outlawed the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and arrested Fr. Vasyl and others
for “anti-Soviet activities.” In prison for almost a year, he was sentenced to
death by firing squad.
While on death row, Fr.
Vasyl ministered to the other death-row inmates. Initially overly occupied with
his own imminent demise, Father wanted to spend his time preparing his soul for
death. The prisoners, however, knowing he was a priest, wanted him to teach
them about God.
Father Vasyl decided to
give his fellow inmates a 10-day mission about the faith. He began by teaching
them the Our Father and Hail Mary prayers and continued with teachings on the
Eucharist and Confession. He made Rosary beads from bits of bread, which hardened
to become makeshift beads. It is no wonder that Bl. Vasyl is now the patron of
prison ministry.
After three months on
death row, Father’s sentence was commuted to ten years of hard labor in the
Soviet Union’s coal mines in the north. There, he became “chaplain” to those he
worked alongside with in the mines. He was released ten years later in 1955.
Episcopal ordination
During the next few years, he quietly performed Catholic baptisms, marriages,
and other religious services. Then in 1959, he was secretly ordained a
Ukrainian bishop by Metropolitan (Bishop) Josyf Slipyi in a Moscow hotel room.
The Metropolitan, who himself had just been released from prison, was enroute
to the Second Vatican Council.
Bishop Vasyl found
himself again imprisoned in 1969 for writing a book on Our Lady of Perpetual
Help. During his three-year sentence, Bishop Vasyl was horribly tortured with
electricity and drugs that deliberately damaged his heart and nervous system.
Released in 1972, he was banished from Ukraine and so immigrated to Canada. In
poor health of mind and body, Bishop Vasyl died a martyr on June 30, 1973 in
Winnipeg at the age of 70.
Bishop Vasyl never
wavered during all the Soviets’ offers of release if he would just “sign the
paper” stating he would become a Russian Orthodox priest. His story is all the
more poignant when we consider the present struggle of Christians in Ukraine,
as Russia’s war continues for a third year.
Considering Bishop
Vasyl’s sufferings, we can look at Our Lord’s words to St. Faustina:
I will now instruct you
on what your holocaust shall consist of, in everyday life, so as to preserve
you from illusions. You shall accept all sufferings with love. Do not be
afflicted if your heart often experiences repugnance and dislike for sacrifice.
All its power rests in the will, and so these contrary feelings, far from
lowering the value of the sacrifice in My eyes, will enhance it. Know that your
body and soul will often be in the midst of fire. Although you will not feel My
presence on some occasions, I will always be with you. Do not fear; My grace
will be with you… (Diary of Saint Marian Faustina Kowalska, 1767).
So, what does this mean
for us? How do we answer the call to love and sacrifice in our own lives? Our
Lord, again, answers through his words to St. Faustina:
My daughter, in this
meditation, consider the love of neighbor. Is your love for your neighbor
guided by My love? Do you pray for your enemies? Do you wish well to those who
have, in one way or another, caused you sorrow or offended you? (Diary, 1768).
May we take these words
to heart and ask Bl. Vasyl to assist us by his prayers to love our enemies and
to be steadfast witnesses of Christ and His Church, with a special intention
for peace in Ukraine and an end to the war.
Blessed Bishop Vasyl
Velychkovsky, pray for us!
For more information on
Bl. Bishop Velychkovsky, watch Dr. Bryan Thatcher’s interview
with Fr. John Sianchuk, Director of the Bishop Velychkovsky National
Martyr’s Shrine.
SOURCE : https://marian.org/articles/north-american-sanctity-blessed-bishop-vasyl-velychkovsky
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.
Prisoner Who Found Refuge
in Canada, Pray For Us!
Blessed Vasyl
Velychkovsky died in 1973 and was beatified by John Paul II in 2001, along with
Blessed Nykyta Budka and other Ukrainian martyrs.
Jim Graves BlogsJune 27, 2023
Blessed Vasyl
Velychkovsky (1903-1973) was a bishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church,
which is in communion with Rome, and a martyr. He had a tremendous zeal for the
salvation of souls and lived a life of great virtue amid great hardships. His
feast day (and that of Blessed
Nykyta Budka) is June 27.
He was born in what is
today western Ukraine; his father, Volodymyr, was a married priest, part of the
tradition of many Eastern Catholic churches. His mother, Anna, was devout. As a
teen, he developed a desire to enter religious life. At age 15, he joined the
Ukrainian Galician Army to fight for Ukraine’s independence during World War I.
Vasyl entered the
seminary in Lviv in 1920, and made vows with the Congregation of the Most Holy
Redeemer (Redemptorists). He was ordained a priest in 1925.
As a priest, he taught
and led missions, and became a religious superior. During this time, the Church
was experiencing increasing persecution from Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union. When
World War II began in 1939, the Nazis occupied Ukraine, followed by the Soviets
at the end of the war. The Communists had Father Vasyl and other clerics
imprisoned for “anti-Soviet activities.” He was sentenced to death by firing
squad in 1946, later commuted to 10 years of hard labor.
Father Vasyl began his
prison ministry ministering to those who had lost hope. Prisoners called him
their chaplain. Despite the harsh conditions and hard labor, he was able to build
a small chapel in a coal mine, teach the basic truths of the faith, hear
confessions and celebrate Divine Liturgy using prison bread and wine made from
raisins. He also used the prison bread and string to make a rosary, which he
prayed faithfully.
He was released in 1955
and returned to Lviv. He celebrated the Divine Liturgy daily, conducted
spiritual exercises and provided spiritual leadership to his community. He was
ordained a bishop in a Moscow hotel room by Metropolitan Josyf Slipyj in 1963,
who had just been released from prison and was making his way to the Second
Vatican Council.
Bishop Vasyl was again
arrested in 1969 after writing a book on Our Lady of Perpetual Help. His
treatment in prison was harsh; he was drugged and tortured, irreparably
injuring his health. He was exiled from Ukraine in 1972 and made his way to
Canada, where he died from injuries relating to his imprisonment the following
year.
He was beatified in 2001.
His incorrupt body is in St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada. In 2014, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk proclaimed
Blessed Vasyl patron of prison ministry for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic
Church.
Keywords:
Jim Graves Jim Graves
is a Catholic writer and editor living in Newport Beach, California. He
previously served as Managing Editor for the Diocese of Orange Bulletin, the
official newspaper of the Diocese of Orange, California. His work has appeared
in the National Catholic Register, Our Sunday Visitor, Cal Catholic Daily and
Catholic World Report.
SOURCE : https://www.ncregister.com/blog/blessed-vasyl-velychkovsky-pray-for-us
Beato Basilio (Vasyl)
Velyckovskyj Vescovo e martire
>>>
Visualizza la Scheda del Gruppo cui appartiene
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
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/90036
Martiri Greco-Cattolici
Ucraini
(†1959)
Beatificazione:
- 27 giugno 2001
- Papa Giovanni
Paolo II
Memoria Liturgica:
- 2 aprile
Mykola Čarneckyj
(1884-1959), Vescovo di Lviv, che svolse il suo ministero di esarca
apostolico di Volyn’ e Pidljashja in tempo di persecuzione contro la fede e,
seguendo come pastore fedele le orme di Cristo, per sua grazia raggiunse il
regno celeste; e 24 compagni, martiri
Nessuno ha un amore più
grande di questo: dare la vita per i propri amici (Gv 15,13)
Mykola Čarneckyj, nacque
il 14 dicembre 1884 in Semakivtsi (Ucraina Occidentale). Nel 1903 entrò nel
Seminario di Stanislaviv. Negli anni 1903-1910 fu alunno del Collegio Ucraino a
Roma, coronando gli studi con il dottorato in teologia. Ordinato sacerdote nel
1909, insegnò nel seminario di Stanislaviv, dove era anche padre spirituale.
Nel 1919 entrò nella
Congregazione dei Missionari Redentoristi. Nel 1926 fu nominato Visitatore
Apostolico per i greco-cattolici in Volyn, dove le strutture della Chiesa
greco-cattolica furono distrutte dal regime zarista nel XIX secolo. Nel 1931 fu
nominato Ordinario dei cattolici di rito bizantino-slavo in Polonia e fu
ordinato Vescovo l'8 febbraio 1931 a Roma.
Fu arrestato l'11 aprile
a Lviv dagli agenti del KGB, insieme a tutti i Vescovi greco-cattolici.
Condannato inizialmente a cinque anni di lavori forzati, passò undici anni
nelle carceri. Subì continue torture ed umiliazioni. Accettava tutto questo e
sopportava con eroica pazienza e serenità, pregando per i persecutori e
confortando i suoi compagni di lager, per i quali era veramente un buon
pastore. Nel 1956 fu scarcerato e riportato a Lviv ormai moribondo. Ripresosi
continuò il suo ministero vescovile a Lviv: dal suo letto dirigeva la Chiesa
nelle catacombe.
Il Servo di Dio morì a
Lviv il 2 aprile 1959. Sin dall'inizio fu ritenuto dai fedeli ucraini un santo
vescovo e un martire della fede cattolica. Ogni giorno molti fedeli pregano
sulla sua tomba.
SOURCE : https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/mykola-carneckyj-e-24-compagni.html
Den salige Basilios
Velytsjkovskyj (1903-1973)
Minnedag:
2. april
Den salige Basilios
Vsevolod Velytsjkovskyj (ukr: Vasyl) (Василь Всеволод Величковський) ble født
den 1. juni 1903 i Stanislaviv (pl: Stanislawów; siden 1962 Ivano-Frankivsk) i
Ukraina (da en del av Østerrike-Ungarn) Han var sønn av kateketen Volodymyr
Fedorovytsj Velytsjkovskyj og hans hustru Anna, som begge kom fra familier med
lange prestelige tradisjoner. De tilhørte den gresk-katolske («unerte») Kirken
i landet, det vil si den kirken som har bysantinsk ritus, men er i union med
Roma. Faren var kateket i den katedralen hvor Basilios ble døpt.
Familien flyttet snart
til landsbyen Sjuparka nær Borsjtsjiv (pl: Borszczów). Her vokste Basilios opp
og fikk sin utdannelse, hovedsakelig ved skolegang hjemme. Under en misjon ved
hans bestefars kirke i Probizjnja i 1911 ble unge Basilios viet til Guds Mor.
Hele sitt liv refererte han til denne begivenheten som sentral, siden han
alltid siden følte seg under beskyttelse av hennes kjærlige omsorg. Etter at
han ble redemptorist, fremmet han andakten til Vår Frue av Evig Hjelp
på alle misjonene han ledet. Rosenkransen var for ham en pilar av styrke mens
han satt fengslet.
Basilios gjennomførte
sine gymnasstudier i byen Horodentsi, men Første verdenskrig (1914-18) avbrøt
hans studier. Han var en ivrig ukrainsk patriot, så som femtenåring sluttet han
seg til den ukrainske galiciske hæren og kjempet i krigen for ukrainsk
selvstendighet (1918-19). Deretter avsluttet han sine videregående studier før
han i 1920 begynte på det unerte seminaret i Lviv (ru: Lvov; pl: Lwów; ty:
Lemberg; lat: Leopoli) i Øst-Galicia, som hadde tilhørt Østerrike-Ungarn, men
som nettopp var blitt polsk (i dag i Vest-Ukraina).
I 1924 ble Basilios
diakonviet av metropolitt Andreas Sjeptytskyj, og det var på denne tiden at han
oppdaget sitt monastiske kall. Med assistanse fra sin tante Monica trådte han i
1924 inn i novisiatet hos redemptoristene (Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris
– CSSR) i landsbyen Holosko nær Lviv. Redemptoristene av bysantinsk ritus er en
av de tre tradisjonelle bysantinske (gresk-katolske; «unerte») munkeordenene
ved siden av basilianerne og studittene. Etter et års novisiat avla han den 29.
august 1925 sine første religiøse løfter om fattigdom, kyskhet og lydighet i
Holosko. Siden han allerede hadde fullført sine teologiske studier, ble han den
9. oktober 1925 presteviet i kapellet i Zboisk av biskop Josyf Botsian.
Helt fra starten av p.
Basilios' monastiske liv merket hans superiorer seg hans talent som misjonær.
For å utvikle dette talentet tilbrakte han sine første to år som prest med å
undervise på gutteseminaret Juvenate, men hans hjerte lå i å preke misjoner.
Hans begavelse som predikant ble snart anerkjent, og han ble satt til å
gjennomføre misjoner sammen med mer erfarne medbrødre, først i Stanislaviv.
Den 16. november 1928 kom
p. Basilios til redemptoristenes kloster i Kovel i Volhynia. Der ble han straks
involvert i misjonsarbeidet blant ukrainske katolske innvandrere fra Galicia
(Halychyna), som var spredt ut over regionene Volhynia (Volyn), Pidljasjsja,
Chelm (ukr: Kholm) og Polesia, (ukr: Polissja). De hadde forlatt den
gresk-katolske Kirken og sluttet seg til den russisk-ortodokse kirken, men
mange ønsket å vende tilbake. I tillegg til arbeidet blant nybyggerne fra Galicia
organiserte p. Basilios også misjoner for lokalbefolkningen i Volhynia, Polesia
og Hviterussland. Med økonomisk bistand fra metropolitt Sjeptytskyj og andre
velgjørere grunnla han flere kirker og kapeller. Han hadde stor suksess, og
hans følsomhet overfor de ortodokses skikker gjorde ham høyt elsket blant
folket. Dessverre førte den politiske striden mellom polakker og ukrainere at
han forlot Volhynia i 1935.
Han vendte tilbake til
Stanislaviv, hvor han ble superior i redemptoristenes kloster og fortsatte med
sognemisjoner sammen med andre redemptorister. Han dro fra landsby til landsby
og prekte en to uker lang redemptoristmisjon. Han prekte for hundretusener av
troende. Hans hjerte var spesielt hos fattige landsens folk som kom til byen
for å skaffe seg arbeid.
På begynnelsen av
1900-tallet ble den gresk-katolske kirken i Galicia (ukr: Halytsjyna) ledet på
en eksemplarisk måte av metropolitt Andreas Sjeptytskyj (ukr: Andrej)
(1901-44). Han var den åndelige lederen under to verdenskriger og syv politiske
endringer, inkludert nazistisk og sovjetisk regime. Hans utrettelige pastorale
arbeid, hans forsvar for sitt folks rettigheter og hans nestekjærlige og
økumeniske arbeid gjorde Kirken til en innflytelsesrik sosial institusjon i
Vest-Ukraina.
Stalins angrep på den
ukrainske gresk-katolske Kirken startet umiddelbart etter den første sovjetiske
okkupasjonen av Vest-Ukraina i september 1939. Denne okkupasjonen var en del av
Molotov-Ribbentrov-pakten (sovjeternes og tyskernes deling av Polen) og varte
til det tyske angrepet på Sovjetunionen i juni 1941. I denne tiden ble all
kirkelig eiendom konfiskert og skoler og sykehus nasjonalisert. Kirkelige
publikasjoner og religiøse organisasjoner ble forbudt, religiøse
utdanningsinstitusjoner og aviser ble stengt, aktiviteten til religiøse
kongregasjoner ble begrenset og brutal ateistisk propaganda og masseterror og
deportasjon av en fredelig befolkning begynte.
Da krigen begynte, var p.
Basilios i Stanislaviv, hvor han betjente en blomstrende redemptoristisk
misjonskirke. I 1940, på festen for Vår Frue av Evig Hjelp, mens byen var
okkupert av sovjeterne, våget p. Basilios å arrangere en prosesjon med 20.000
mennesker gjennom gatene i Stanislaviv. Etter prosesjonen ble han arrestert.
Men sovjeterne fryktet de menneskene som var villige til å ofre sitt blod for
p. Basilios, så de satte ham fri. Basilios Velytsjkovskyjs intense apostolat
før krigen førte til at mange legfolk og flere ortodokse prester gikk over til
den gresk-katolske Kirken. Hans ry blant befolkningen var før krigen så høyt at
de kommunistiske myndighetene ikke våget å røre ham under den første sovjetiske
okkupasjonen mellom september 1939 og juni 1941.
Starten på krigen mellom
Nazi-Tyskland og Sovjetunionen den 22. juni 1941 betydde snart et bytte av okkupasjonsmakt.
Siden p. Basilios hadde erfaring med å arbeide blant de ortodokse, ble han i
1941 sendt av metropolitt Sjeptytskyj til Kamjanets-Podilskyj i det sentrale
Ukraina. På den tiden var byen nettopp okkupert av tyskerne. Der, som i
Volhynia, opplevde p. Basilios en stor åndelig fornyelse. Men de pro-ukrainske
aktiviteten til den nye presten vakte mistenksomhet blant de tyske okkupantene.
Så bare tre dager etter sin ankomst ble p. Basilios beskyldt for å samarbeide
med ukrainske nasjonale motstandsorganisasjoner og han fikk ordre om å forlate
byen innen 24 timer. Han flyttet da til Ternopil, hvor han i 1942 ble superior
for klosteret ved kirken Marias innsovning.
For mange vestukrainere
betydde den tyske okkupasjonen først og fremst at det forhatte bolsjevikregimet
forsvant. Men forventningene om at man ville få tilbake sin religiøse frihet og
oppnå sine nasjonale aspirasjoner, ble ikke oppfylt. For det ble snart tydelig
at å bytte et blodig regime ut med et annet ikke ville forandre totalitarismens
vesen. I løpet av de to siste månedene av 1942 ble for eksempel mer enn 40.000
jøder myrdet i Lviv. Da tyskerne ble beseiret på østfronten, ble det snart
klart at Vest-Ukraina igjen ville komme under sovjetisk kontroll. Det fikk
hierarkiet og de troende i den gresk-katolske Kirken til å frykte for dens
skjebne. For de fortsatt friske minnene om kommunistregimets vold mot de
troendes samvittighet under den forrige sovjetiske okkupasjonen mindre enn to
år tidligere, var alt for smertefulle til at de var glemt.
Straks etter at Den røde
hær vendte tilbake til Vest-Ukraina sommeren 1944, ble de tidligere
begrensingene som var pålagt den gresk-katolske Kirken, gjeninnført. Men den
store autoritet som Kirken og dens leder, metropolitt Andreas Sjeptytskyj,
hadde, tvang staten til å unngå direkte konfrontasjon i den første perioden.
Men den 1. november 1944 døde metropolitt Andreas i hellighets ry. Josef
Ivanovitsj Slipyj var koadjutor av Lviv og ble automatisk metropolitt (eller
erkebiskop av Lviv for ukrainerne) da Andreas døde. Etter den gamle
metropolittens død planla den sovjetiske sikkerhetstjenesten å løsrive
menighetene i den gresk-katolske Kirken fra Vatikanet og deretter innlemme dem
i den russisk-ortodokse kirken. Denne planen var i samsvar med Stalins direkte ordre
og ble prist av ham.
Natten mellom 10. og 11.
april 1945 arresterte russerne representanter for hele det gresk-katolske
hierarkiet. Uten noe bevis på skyld ble metropolitt Josef Slipyj arrestert
sammen med hjelpebiskop Johannes Ljatysjevskyj (ukr: Ivan; Іван Лятишевський)
av Stanislaviv, og de salige biskopene Gregor Khomysjyn,
Nikita Budka
og Nikolas
Tsjarnetskyj. Kort etter ble biskopene av Peremyshl (Przemysl), de salige Josafat
Kotsylovskyj og hans hjelpebiskop Gregor Lakota,
arrestert sammen med rundt 500 prester over hele Vest-Ukraina. I tillegg ble
nesten alle tjenestemenn i eparkiene arrestert sammen med professorene ved det
teologiske akademiet i Lviv (LTA) og
seminarene. Ved bruk av åpen terror og falsk demagogi og de samlede kreftene
til parti- og regjeringsstrukturene, politiorganene og det ortodokse
hierarkiet, ble i 1946 «Opphevelse av unionen» i Vest-Ukraina erklært av det
såkalte «pseudo-Sobor («konsilet») i Lviv» og i 1949 i Transkarpatia (Rutenia).
Til tross for forfølgelsen klarte myndighetene ikke å knekke biskopenes vilje
og overbevise dem om å forråde sin Kirke for en karriere i regimets kirke – den
russisk-ortodokse.
Våren 1945 prøvde
sovjeterne å arrestere p. Basilios, men han unngikk dem ved å gå fra landsby
til landsby og gi misjoner. Men til slutt den 26. juni 1945 ble p. Basilios
arrestert i klosteret i Ternopil for «anti-sovjetisk propaganda». Under
forhørene ble han tilbudt å slutte seg til den russisk-ortodokse kirken i bytte
mot sin frihet, men hans svar var enkelt: «Aldri!» Han ble senere tatt med til
fengsel i hovedstaden Kyjiv (Kiev). Der varte undersøkelsene av hans sak i
nesten to år. Til slutt dømte regionaldomstolen i Kyjiv ham til døden ved
skyting for to antikommunistiske uttrykk: «røde horde» og «røde gjeng», som
opptrådte i en lommekalender utgitt av p. Basilios i Stanislaviv i 1939. Men
mens han satt i fengsel i tre måneder og ventet på henrettelsen, ble hans
dødsdom omgjort til ti års tvangsarbeid. I denne perioden forberedte han andre
dødsdømte gjennom sakramentene på deres kommende død.
I de to første årene var
p. Basilios i fangeleiren i regionen Kirovsk. Deretter ble han sendt for å
arbeide i kullgruvene i regionen Vorkuta nord for Polarsirkelen. Til tross for
det utmattende arbeidet feiret han liturgien nesten hver dag og brukte
blikkbokser som liturgiske kar. Høsten 1953 ble han anklaget for å ha startet
en streik blant fangene, så han ble overført til et svært strengt fengsel i
Vladimir nær Moskva. Etter å ha protestert og bedyret sin uskyld, ble han sendt
tilbake til Vorkuta. Noen måneder før hans løslatelse sørget venner av p.
Basilios blant medfangene for at han fikk arbeide på sykehuset i stedet for i
gruvene, og denne endringen reddet hans liv, for hans helse var blitt ødelagt
av ti års innesperring og hardt tvangsarbeid.
Den 9. juli 1955 ble p.
Basilios satt fri etter å ha sonet sin straff. Han dro da tilbake til Lviv,
hvor han fortsatte sitt pastorale arbeid i det skjulte. Han ble sentral i
organiseringen av undergrunnskirken. Det fantes ikke noen kirke eller kapell
hvor han kunne tjenestegjøre, men dette avskrekket ham ikke. Han bodde i et
lite rom i Vozzyednannia gt. 11, og der bygde han et alter av tomme pappesker.
De troende besøkte ham i grupper på fem og seks for å delta i liturgier.
Leiligheten ble også sentrum for administrasjon av sakramentene, katekese,
forberedelse av seminarister, rådgivning osv. Han begynte også å organisere
ordenssøstre og lærte dem en ny måte å leve ut sitt monastiske og religiøse liv
under sovjetisk ateismes tyranni. Mange kall ble fostret under p. Basilios'
veiledning og omsorg.
I 1959 utnevnte Den
hellige Stol p. Basilios til biskop i «Taushetens kirke», men forfølgelsene
gjorde en bispevielse umulig. Det var ganske enkelt ingen biskop tilgjengelig
som kunne ordinere ham. Metropolitt Josef Slipyj satt i kommunistregimets
fangeleire i Sibir fra 1945 til den 6. februar 1963, da han ble satt fri fra
arbeidsleiren og sendt i eksil til Roma. Metropolittens utreisetillatelse
antydet klimaendringen i forholdene mellom Vatikanet og østblokken. På vei til
sitt eksil var han innom Moskva, og derfra innkalte han p. Basilios til sitt
hotellrom. Da han ankom, begynte metropolitten på riten for bispevielse. Slik
vigslet Josef Slipyj i hemmelighet Basilios til erkebiskop i den ukrainske
undergrunnskirken på et hotellrom i Moskva, og han ga dermed Basilios ansvaret
for Kirken i katakombene. P. Basilios vendte tilbake til Lviv for å ta opp sin
tjeneste.
Josef Slipyj ble den 23.
desember 1963 utnevnt til storerkebiskop, det vil si leder av en østkirke som
ennå ikke har patriarkat. Han ble kreert til kardinal den 22. februar 1965. Han
døde den 7. februar 1984, 92 år gammel, og ble gravlagt i basilikaen Santa
Sophia i Roma. Hans legeme ble overført til Lviv den 27. august 1992 og
gravlagt i krypten i metropolittkatedralen der den 7. september 1992.
Basilios regnet med å bli
arrestert på nytt, så i 1964 vigslet han nye undergrunnsbiskoper. Blant dem var
hans etterfølger, erkebiskop Volodymyr Sternjuk (Володимир Стернюк), Locum
Tenens (fungerende leder) for den ukrainske gresk-katolske Kirke i Ukraina
(1972-91), som i 1989 skulle lede den gresk-katolske Kirken opp av sin
underjordiske tilværelse.
De ti årene med
tvangsarbeid «korrigerte» eller endret ikke biskop Velytsjkovskyj. Han
fortsatte «å spre antikommunistisk propaganda blant folket, deltok ikke i
sosialt nyttig arbeid, utførte ikke pliktene til en sovjetisk borger. Han skrev
en bok om ikonet av Vår Frue av Evig Hjelp, og der ble det gjort forsøk på å
bevise gjennom spesifikke eksempler at ateister ikke kunne være gode borgere.
Han lyttet til Vatikanets radiosendinger».
Denne listen var
tilstrekkelig til å rettferdiggjøre en ny arrestasjon av biskop Basilios
Velytsjkovskyj den 2. januar 1969. Denne gangen varte fengselsoppholdet i tre
år, og straffen ble sonet in Kommunarsk nær Donbass i det østlige Ukraina. Han
ble imidlertid løslatt etter noen måneder på grunn av en alvorlig hjertesykdom.
Han ble arrestert igjen, og da han ble løslatt den 27. januar 1972, var han
allerede døden nær. Han fikk ikke lov til å vende tilbake til Lviv, men fikk
reise ut av landet. Han ble sendt til Jugoslavia på «rekreasjon».
Han benyttet anledningen
til å besøke sin søster i Zagreb i Kroatia før han dro til Roma, hvor han møtte
kardinal og selvutnevnt patriark Josef Slipyj. Den 8. april 1972 ble han
mottatt av pave Paul VI (1963-78). Deretter dro han den 15. juni til Winnipeg i
staten Manitoba i Canada, etter invitasjon fra metropolitt Maxim Hermaniuk. Der
døde han imidlertid før et år var gått, den 30. juni 1973. Dødsårsaken var angivelig
en alvorlig hjertesykdom som begynte mens han var i fengsel, men obduksjonen
viste at dødsårsaken var en langsomt virkende gift som han hadde fått før
løslatelsen i 1972. Han var sytti år gammel og hadde virket som biskop i ti år.
Etter begravelsesseremonien i den ukrainsk-katolske katedralen Ss Vladimir og
Olha ble han gravlagt den 5. juli på Saints Cemetery nær Winnipeg.
I forbindelse med Det
hellige år 2000 ble det startet en saligkåringsprosess for martyrer fra
forfølgelsestiden. Den 2. mars 2001 var prosessen fullført på eparki-nivå
(bispedømme) og saken ble oversendt til Den hellige Stol. Den 6. april 2001
anerkjente teologkommisjonen deres martyrium, og denne beslutningen ble
stadfestet av kardinalene. Den 24. april 2001 undertegnet pave Johannes Paul II
(1978-2005) dekretet fra Helligkåringskongregasjonen som anerkjente biskop
Basilios' og andre ukraineres martyrium in odium fidei («av hat til troen»)
(gruppen den salige Nikolas Tsjarnetskyj
og hans 24 ledsagere). Dermed fikk de tittelen Venerabilis, «Ærverdige», og
veien til saligkåring var åpnet.
Gruppen besto av åtte
biskoper, seks sekularprester, syv ordensprester, tre ordenssøstre og en
legmann. De ble saligkåret den 27. juni 2001 av pave Johannes Paul II under
hans besøk i Ukraina. Deres minnedag er 2. april, Nikolas Tsjarnetskyjs
dødsdag. Samtidig ble to andre gresk-katolske ukrainere, en rutensk biskop og
to latinske katolikker også saligkåret. Alles navn står i Martyrologium
Romanum.
Etter saligkåringen
begynte forberedelsene for å åpne biskop Basilios' grav. Hans legeme ble
avdekket den 16. september 2002. I henhold til Vatikanets protokoll ble det
undersøkt av et team av leger og kirkelig personell. Hans legeme skal ha blitt
funnet med muskelmassen hel og intakt. Det ble kledd i nye biskoppelige
gevanter og plassert i en sarkofag av rustfritt stål. Den 22. september 2002
ble relikviene skrinlagt i et kapell i den ukrainsk-katolske kirken St.
Joseph's i Winnipeg.
(I denne artikkelen har
vi fulgt Norsk Språkråds regler for transkripsjon fra ukrainsk, som er noe
annerledes enn for russisk)
Kilder: Patron
Saints SQPN, santiebeati.it, en.wikipedia.org, papalvisit.org.ua, vatican.va,
sspp.ca, EWTN/OR - Kompilasjon og oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden -
Opprettet: 2005-07-04 23:35 - Sist oppdatert: 2009-01-20 23:12
SOURCE : https://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/bvelycko
Василій
Величковський і Микола Чарнецький. Церква Петра і Павла. Новояворівськ
Photographie : Nashastudiya
Величковський
Василь-Всеволод
Прізвище, ім'я, по-батькові:
Величковський
Василь-Всеволод
Діяльність:
церковний діяч УГКЦ
Дата народження:
1 черв. 1903
Дата смерті:
30 черв. 1973
ВЕЛИЧКО́ВСЬКИЙ
Василь-Всеволод (01. 06. 1903, Станіслав, нині Івано-Франківськ— 30. 06. 1973,
Вінніпеґ)— церковний діяч УГКЦ. Учасник укр.-польс. війни у складі УГА. Закін.
Львів. духовну академію, навч. в Укр. таєм. університеті (Львів). 1925 висвяч.
на священика-редемпториста. 1928–35— місіонер на Волині. Від 1935— ігумен
монастиря отців Редемптористів у Станіславі, 1941–42— у м.
Камʼянець-Подільський, 1942–45— у Тернополі. Після ліквідації УГКЦ перейти до
РПЦ відмовився. Заарешт. 11 квітня 1945, засудж. до смерт. кари. 1949 вирок
замінено на 10 р. увʼязнення в ГУЛАГу. Звільнений 1955, жив у Львові під
наглядом органів КДБ. 1963 у Москві таємно висвяч. митрополитом Й. Сліпим на
єпископа, очолив підпіл. УГКЦ. Заарешт. удруге 2 січня 1969, засудж. до 3-х р.
суворого режиму у Комунар. вʼязниці на Донбасі. Звільнений 1971, виселений до
Югославії, звідки переїхав до Риму, 1972— до Канади. 27 червня 2001
беатифікований Папою Іваном-Павлом ІІ. У 2002 мощі В. перепоховано у церкві св.
Йосифа у Вінніпезі.
SOURCE : https://esu.com.ua/article-33381
~ Martyrs Killed in odium
fidei under Communist Regimes ~ in Eastern Europe [3] : http://newsaints.faithweb.com/martyrs/East01.htm
