Oleksiy Bazyuk ( uk, Олексій Базюк; 26 March 1873 – 12 June 1952) was a

Greek Catholic The term Greek Catholic Church can refer to a number of Eastern Catholic Churches following the Byzantine (Greek) liturgy, considered collectively or individually. The terms Greek Catholic, Greek Catholic church or Byzantine Catholic, Byzantine Ca ...

hierarch. He served as the single Apostolic Administrator of the

Ruthenian Catholic Apostolic Administration of Bosnia-Hercegovina The Ruthenian Catholic Apostolic Administration of Bosnia-Hercegovina was a short-lived (1914-1924) pre-diocesan Eastern Catholic jurisdiction, covering Bosnia and Hercegovina. It was exempt, i.e. directly dependent on the Holy See, not part of a ...

from its establishing on 9 October 1914 until its dissolution in 1925.

Early life and service

Oleksiy Bazyuk was born in the family of Greek-Catholics in 1873 in the

Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Lviv The Archeparchy of Lviv is a metropolitan archeparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. History Eparchy of Halych (1156 – 1406) The eparchy was established as the Orthodox Eparchy of Halych suffragan to Metropolitan of Kiev at some tim ...

. After graduation of the popular school and gymnasium education in

Stryi Stryi ( uk, Стрий, ; pl, Stryj) is a city located on the left bank of the river Stryi in Lviv Oblast (region) of western Ukraine 65 km to the south of Lviv (in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains). It serves as the administrative cen ...

in 1894, he joined Faculty of Theology of the

University of Lviv The University of Lviv ( uk, Львівський університет, Lvivskyi universytet; pl, Uniwersytet Lwowski; german: Universität Lemberg, briefly known as the ''Theresianum'' in the early 19th century), presently the Ivan Franko Na ...

and the Greek-Catholic Theological Seminary in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

. He was ordained as

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

on 9 April 1898 by Metropolitan

Joseph Sembratovych Joseph Sembratovych ( uk, Йосиф Сембратович, pl, Josyf Sembratowycz; 8 November 1821, Krynica-Zdrój – 23 October 1900) was the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church from 1870 until his resignation ...

for the Archeparchy of Lviv, while completing his studies in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. After the one year parish work, Fr. Bazyuk continued to study in the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

and served simultaneously as an assistant priest in St. Barbara's church in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(1898–1900). After returning he served as a parish priest in the different villages until 1908, when he went to serve among Ukrainians in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for six years and was elevated in rank of a

Protonotary apostolic In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic (PA; Latin: ''protonotarius apostolicus'') is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pop ...

in 1913.

Apostolic Administrator

On 9 October 1914, Fr. Bazyuk was appointed by

Pope Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His ...

the first Apostolic Administrator of the new created Apostolic Administration of Bosnia-Hercegovina (that was established from the

Greek Catholic Eparchy of Križevci The Eparchy of Križevci is a Greek Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia eparchy of the Catholic Church in Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its current eparch is Milan Stipić. The cathedra is in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinit ...

) without dignity of

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. He served in office until 1925 with the sees in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

(1914–1917) and after – in

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...

(1917–1925), when the Apostolic Administration was suppressed and merged again with the Eparchy of Križevci. But Fr. Bazyuk continued to serve in Bosnia until the end of 1926 as a parish priest in

and the Apostolic Vicar of Bosnia-Hercegovina.

Last years

In 1927 he returned to his native Archeparchy of Lviv and was a member of the Metropolitan Curia. After the Soviet annexation of Western Ukraine in 1939 he became a parish priest in village Chesnyky near

Rohatyn Rohatyn ( uk, Рогатин, pl, Rohatyn) is a city located on the Hnyla Lypa River in Ivano-Frankivsk Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, in western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Rohatyn urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Pop ...

. When the Communist regime abolished the Greek-Catholic Church in 1946, he clandestinely continued to serve as a priest in the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

village Volosianka and after in

Lavochne Lavochne ( uk, Ла́вочне, pl, Ławoczne) is a village ( selo) in the Stryi Raion, in the Lviv Oblast (province) of Western Ukraine (prior to 1959, it was situated in the Drohobych Oblast). It belongs to the Slavske settlement hromada, one ...

, where he died on 12 June 1952, in the age 79.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bazyuk, Oleksiy 1873 births 1952 deaths Clergy from Lviv Oblast Clergy from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria University of Lviv alumni Lviv Seminary alumni University of Vienna alumni Ukrainian expatriates in Germany Ukrainian expatriates in Austria Ukrainian expatriates in Bosnia and Herzegovina Ukrainian Eastern Catholics Ukrainian Austro-Hungarians