JULIAN VORONOVSKY, BISHOP - 28 FEBRUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY

Saints celebrated on the 28th of February

JULIAN VORONOVSKY, BISHOP

"HE REBUILT THE UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH"

Bishop Julian Voronovsky [was] the last Ukrainian Catholic Bishop to be secretly consecrated during the Soviet-era persecution of the Church. [He] died aged 76 [on February 28, 2013].

Words at his memorial service said, “We thank God for this spiritual giant, a man of great heart and heroic faith… 

HIS GREATNESS WAS NOT THAT OF EARTHLY GLORY

His greatness wasn’t that of earthly glory, estates, awards and honours, since he lived humbly among the poor of Christ, with nowhere to lay his head. His greatness was that of God’s love.” Born in 1936 in Busk, Bishop Julian trained as an engineer at Ukraine’s Polygraphic Institute overseeing construction projects.

HE WAS FORCED TO WORK AS A BOILER OPERATOR

His work there was short lived as he was dismissed because of his Catholic Faith. Bishop Julian was then forced to work as a boiler operator. He joined an underground seminary and in 1958 he was secretly ordained a priest, ministering to his people in hidden ways. In 1986 he was secretly consecrated a Bishop and was then repeatedly detained by the Soviet KGB police. 

HE ALWAYS FOLLOWED THE CHURCH'S ADVICE 

Bishop Julian said he always followed the Church’s advice to “sign nothing and agree to nothing” during his interrogations for fear of being entrapped as a collaborator. From 1994 until 2011 Bishop Julian restored parishes and founded monasteries and schools. He rebuilt the Ukrainian Catholic Church, which had been previously outlawed and forced to merge with the Orthodox Church under Soviet Rule.

(From: Spiritual Thought from Father Chris, 2013)