Symeon Lukach ( uk, Симеон Лукач; 7 July 1893 – 22 August 1964) was a

Ukrainian Greek Catholic , native_name_lang = uk , caption_background = , image = StGeorgeCathedral Lviv.JPG , imagewidth = , type = Particular church (sui iuris) , alt = , caption = St. George's C ...

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 ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

. Lukach was born in the village of Starunya, Stanislaviv Region. His parents were

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

farmers.
Biographies of twenty five Greek-Catholic Servants of God
' at the website of the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

He entered the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

in 1913. His studies were interrupted for two years during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he finished in 1919.
Beatification of the Servants of God on June 27, 2001
'' at the website of the

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , native_name_lang = uk , caption_background = , image = StGeorgeCathedral Lviv.JPG , imagewidth = , type = Particular church (sui iuris) , alt = , caption = St. George's C ...

In that year he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

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 ...

by Bishop

Hryhory Khomyshyn Hryhoriy Khomyshyn (also ''Hryhorij Khomyshyn'', uk, Григорій Лукич Хомишин, pl, Grzegorz Chomyszyn) was a Ukrainian Greek Catholic bishop and hieromartyr. Khomyshyn was born on 25 March 1867 in the village of Hadynkivtsi, e ...

. He taught

moral theology Ethics involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''"Ethics"/ref> A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply sati ...

at the seminary in

Stanislaviv Ivano-Frankivsk ( uk, Іва́но-Франкі́вськ, translit=Iváno-Frankívśk ), formerly Stanyslaviv ( pl, Stanisławów ; german: Stanislau), is a city located in Western Ukraine. It is the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Obl ...

until April 1945 when Khomyshyn ordained him a bishop. He was first arrested on 26 October 1949 by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

and deported to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

(Krasnoyarsk) for ten years hard labor.Alan Butler, Paul Burns. ''Butler's lives of the saints''. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005. p80 After serving half his sentence, he was released on 11 February 1955. After this, he served as an

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground (S ...

member of the

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

. In July 1962 he was arrested for a second time. He appeared in court with Bishop Ivan Slezyuk who was also an underground bishop. He was sentenced to five more years of labor where he underwent interrogations. While he was in prison, he developed

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. He was released back to his village where he died on 22 August 1964. He was

beatified Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

on 27 June 2001 by

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

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 ...

. After his first arrest in 1949, Fr Symeon wrote in his autobiography: ''“I celebrated divine liturgy in an apartment and in a few houses. From one to 30 people took part in the services I also baptized and celebrated marriages But conscience does not allow me to mention their names, so that my mistake will not cause those people who sought spiritual help from me to suffer. I acted in good faith, serving God’s will, so I was in danger of colliding with state laws. If the state finds me guilty, I myself will take the responsibility.”''

References

1893 births 1964 deaths Clergy from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Clergy from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Ukrainian Austro-Hungarians Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Eastern Catholic beatified people Ukrainian beatified people 20th-century Eastern Catholic martyrs Beatifications by Pope John Paul II 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in the Soviet Union Tuberculosis deaths in Ukraine Bishops of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Ivano-Frankivsk {{UkrainianGreekCatholic-bishop-stub