Petro Werhun

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Petro Werhun ( Ukrainian Петро Вергун ) (born November 18, 1890 in Gródek Jagiellonski near Lemberg in Galicia , † February 7, 1957 in Angarsk in Siberia ) was a Ukrainian priest and martyr . He belonged to the Ukrainian Catholic Church , a United Church that cultivates the Byzantine rite and at the same time is in unity with the Roman Catholic Church , and is venerated as a blessed in the Roman Catholic Church .

Life

After studying theology in Prague , he received his doctorate in church history . After his ordination he was called to Berlin in 1927 as a pastor for the Ukrainian Catholics, where he initially worked in the St. Josefsheim of the Carmelites of the Divine Heart of Jesus on Pappelallee in the Prenzlauer Berg district . From the beginning he made efforts not only to the Catholic, but also to the Orthodox Ukrainians. He founded a mixed denominational church choir and campaigned for the inner-Ukrainian ecumenical movement . Another concern of his was to make the Byzantine liturgy known within the Catholic Church through lectures and publications and to promote dialogue between the Eastern and Western Churches . He longed for the reunification of the churches and was aware that church union must be preceded by a “union of hearts”. He himself was an oblate of the Niederaltaich Abbey of the Benedictines in Bavaria (in which both rites are represented) and wished to enter there later.

In 1940, however, Petro Werhun was appointed Apostolic Visitator in Germany and was thus responsible for all Catholic Ukrainians and their pastors. During the Second World War , a focus of his work was the support of needy Ukrainian families, war orphans and forced laborers, which is why he was monitored by the Gestapo . The attempt to have him expelled from Germany in 1939 failed due to the resistance of the Apostolic Nuncio Cesare Orsenigo .

Against the advice to flee from the advancing Red Army and leave Berlin, he decided not to let his community down. On June 22, 1945, he was abducted by the Red Army for allegedly collaborating with the National Socialists and sentenced to eight years of forced labor. He was still held in Siberia after his release . On February 7, 1957, Petro Werhun died as a result of forced labor in Siberian exile.

On 27 June 2001 he was selected by Pope . John Paul II in Lviv, along with 26 other Ukrainian martyrs beatified . Petro Werhun is revered as a bridge builder between East and West, especially between Ukrainians and Germans. There is a commemorative plaque in the lower church of St. Hedwig's Cathedral . Relics that were handed over to the Archdiocese of Berlin when Cardinal Husar visited the cathedral in May 2006 are now in the Church of St. Johannes Evangelist of the Ukrainian community in Berlin-Johannisthal , further relics were handed over to Niederaltaich Abbey .

The feast day of Blessed Petro Werhun is February 7th. The Catholic Church accepted Prelate Werhun as a witness of faith in the German martyrology of the 20th century .

See also

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Werhun, Petro
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Verhun, Petro; Вергун, Петро (Ukrainian)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ukrainian priest, Blessed
DATE OF BIRTH November 18, 1890
PLACE OF BIRTH Gródek Jagiellonski
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 1957
Place of death Angarsk , Siberia