Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk, O.F.M. ( uk, Станіслав Широкорадюк, ''pol. Stanisław Szyrokoradiuk''; born 23 June 1956) is a Ukrainian prelate of the Catholic Church who became Bishop of Odessa-Simferopol since February 2020 after a year as Coadjutor Bishop there. He was Bishop of Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia from 2014 to 2019 and Auxiliary Bishop of

Roman Catholic Diocese of Kyiv-Zhytomyr The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kyiv-Zhytomyr ( la, Dioecesis Kioviensis-Zytomeriensis) is a suffragan diocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Ukraine in ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Lviv of the Latins. ...

from 1994 to 2014.

Life

Shyrokoradiuk was born into a Polish Roman-Catholic family in Kornachivka (Kornaczówka), Yarmolyntsi Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast,

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

, on 23 June 1956. He graduated from a railway college in Zdolbuniv, performed his compulsory service in the

Soviet Army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

from 1974 to 1976, and worked in factories. In 1980 he entered the Major Theological Seminary in Riga, Latvia, and one year later, he clandestinely joined the

Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

. After completing his studies in theology and philosophy, he was ordained a priest on 4 June 1984. He returned to Ukraine in 1984 and worked as a parish priest in Slavuta and

Polonne Polonne () is a city on the Khomora River in Shepetivka Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. Polonne hosts the administration of Polonne urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. The current estimated population is ...

from 1984 to 1994. He made his solemn

profession A profession is a field of work that has been successfully ''professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, '' professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by ...

as a Franciscan on 26 August 1988, again in secret. On 26 November 1994,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative ...

and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox ...

of Surista. On 6 January 1995, he was consecrated a bishop by Pope John Paul. From 1996 to 2016 he was national director of Caritas-Spes Ukraine. He was also Apostolic Administrator of the

Lutsk Lutsk ( uk, Луцьк, translit=Lutsk}, ; pl, Łuck ; yi, לוצק, Lutzk) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Volyn Oblast (province) and the administrative center of the surrounding Lu ...

from 24 July 2012 until 12 April 2014. He was named Bishop of Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia on 12 April 2014. He was also Apostolic Administrator of Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia from 2 February 2019 to 6 January 2020. On 2 February 2019, Pope Francis appointed him Bishop Coadjutor of Odessa-Simferopol and on 18 February 2020 he became bishop there.

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

As Catholic bishop of Odessa, Shyrokoradiuk found his diocese heavily affected by the war and spoke out against the Russian invasion. Under his direction the Church helped provide humanitarian assistance and places of safety for refugees and children. The diocese also organised spiritual support for its flock: "we pray daily for peace. It’s important to us to pray for everyone, but especially for those who have died. Every day we celebrate a Mass with a requiem for all those who have died, including the fallen soldiers and all war victims". During an online conference with Aid to the Church in Need, the bishop claimed that both Russians and Ukrainians were victims in the war, each in their own way. "We Ukrainians are the victims of the war; the Russian people are the victims of propaganda. I hope that their eyes will be opened, so that peace can come."

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shyrokoradiuk, Stanislav 1956 births Living people People from Khmelnytskyi Oblast Franciscan bishops Ukrainian people of Polish descent 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ukraine 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ukraine