Symeon Lukatsch

Sel. Bishop Symeon Lukatsch

Symeon Lukatsch ( Polish : Symeon Łukacz , Ukrainian : Симеон Лукач , born July 7, 1893 in Starunia near Stanislau , Galicia ; † August 22, 1964 in Ivano-Frankiwsk , Ukrainian SSR ) was Ukrainian Greek Catholic bishop of Stanislau . He was publicly declared a martyr of the Ukrainian Church and a Blessed by Pope John Paul II in 2001 .

Life

Lukatsch was the son of a peasant family and had already hinted at becoming a priest in his early youth . After high school degree he took in the seminary of the diocese Stanislau the study on. In 1919, the exact date is not known, the Bishop of Stanislaviv Hryhorij Khomyschyn ordained him as a priest. This was followed by a short stay in a parish until he was brought into the seminary as a spiritualist .

martyrdom

After the Second World War , Soviet troops occupied western Ukraine and forcibly promoted the integration of Galicia into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic . The Bishop of Stanislau (now Stanislaw) recognized the danger to himself and the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine in good time. Even before his arrest in mid-1945, he secretly consecrated Symeon Lukatsch in April 1945 and appointed him his deputy.

First arrest

In 1949 Lukatsch was arrested by the Russian secret police , who were accused of working in the church forbidden by the state and refusing to merge the Russian Orthodox Church with the Greek Catholic Church. In December 1949, Bishop Lukatsch was sentenced to ten years ' imprisonment and exiled to Krasnoyarsk . Until his release in 1956, he had to do many hours of forest work every day. After his release, Lukatsch devoted himself to pastoral care , the offer to disappear underground for some time, but he refused. He continued to work in secret, holding church services , and continuing training as a priest. During this time he wrote the book "False Prophets".

Second arrest

In July 1962, Bishop Lukatsch was imprisoned again, his private belongings were confiscated and he himself was locked up in the Stanislau prison (now Ivano-Frankovsk). This time he was accused of having produced and distributed dissolving pamphlets and of having consolidated Catholicism . Both allegations were not denied by the bishop, as a result of which he was sentenced to five years in prison. During his prison term he fell ill with tuberculosis and was released from prison for health reasons in March 1964. He stayed in his hometown until his death on August 22, 1964.

beatification

On June 27, 2001, Bishop Lukatsch and twenty-four venerable servants were announced by Pope John Paul II in Lemberg as a martyr and blessed of the Greek Catholic Church of the Ukrainians.

See also

• Twenty-five Blessed of the Greek Catholic Church of Ukrainians

Web links

• Blessed Bishop Symeon Lukatsch (PDF file; 1.56 MB)
• Entry on Symeon Lukatsch on catholic-hierarchy.org