Symeon Lukach
Symeon Lukach (Ukrainian: Симеон Лукач; 7 July 1893 - 22 August 1964) was a Ukrainian Greek Catholic bishop and martyr.
Symeon Lukach | |
---|---|
Born | 7 July 1893 Starunya, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austrian-Hungarian Empire |
Died | 22 August 1964 71) Starunya, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union | (aged
Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church, Ukrainian Catholic Church |
Beatified | 27 June 2001, Lviv, Ukraine by Pope John Paul II |
Feast | June 28 |
Lukach was born in the village of Starunya, Stanislaviv Region. His parents were peasant farmers.[1] He entered the seminary in 1913. His studies were interrupted for two years during World War I, he finished in 1919.[2] In that year he was ordained a priest by Bishop Hryhory Khomyshyn.[1] He taught moral theology at the seminary in Stanislaviv until April 1945 when Khomyshyn ordained him a bishop.[1][2]
He was first arrested on 26 October 1949 by the NKVD and deported to Siberia for ten years hard labor.[2][3] After serving half his sentence, he was released on 11 February 1955.[3] After this, he served as an underground member of the clergy.[1] In July 1962 he was arrested for a second time. He appeared in court with Bishop Ivan Slezyuk who was also an underground bishop.[1] He was sentenced to five more years of labor. While he was in prison, he developed tuberculosis.[2] He was released back to his village where he died on 22 August 1964.[3]
References
- Biographies of twenty five Greek-Catholic Servants of God at the website of the Vatican
- 'Beatification of the Servants of God on June 27, 2001 Archived November 29, 2014, at the Wayback Machine at the website of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
- Alan Butler, Paul Burns. Butler's lives of the saints. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005. p80