Vasyl Hovera ( uk, Василь Говера; born 11 December 1972) is a Ukrainian-born hierarch for

Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Eastern Rite Catholicism, or simply the Eastern Churches, are 23 Eastern Christian autonomous (''sui iuris'') particular churches of th ...

of the

Byzantine Rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople. Th ...

, who serves as an

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the Apostolic Administration of Kazakhstan and Central Asia for Faithful of Byzantine Rite, with a see in

Karaganda Karaganda or Qaraghandy ( kk, Қарағанды/Qarağandy, ; russian: Караганда, ) is the capital of Karaganda Region in the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, fourth most populous city in Kaza ...

, for

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

and

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

since 1 June 2019.

Life

Rev. Hovera was born in the family of clandestine Greek-Catholics of Yaroslav and Mariya in

Ivano-Frankivsk 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 O ...

, where he grew up. After graduation from school he joined a theological seminary and simultaneously studied at the Catholic University of Lublin,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, from 1990 until 1996 with magister of dogmatic theology degree. He was ordained as a deacon on 28 July 1996 and as a

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 2 March 1997 for 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 completing theological studies. In the same year he began his missionary and pastoral work among Catholic faithful of the Byzantine rite in

. In a short time, the Greek Catholic parishes were erected in

Pavlodar Pavlodar ( ; ) is a city in northeastern Kazakhstan and the capital of Pavlodar Region. It is located 450 km northeast of the national capital Astana and 405 km southeast of the Russian city of Omsk along the Irtysh River. , the cit ...

Astana Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmo ...

, Satbayev, Shiderty and

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...

: in addition to these parishes, were formed a dozen communities, scattered in other places. Therefore, Fr. Hovera on 11 November 2002 was appointed an

Apostolic Delegate An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international o ...

for Kazakhstan and Central Asia with a dependency from the

Congregation for the Oriental Churches The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches (also called Dicastery for the Oriental Churches), previously named Congregation for the Oriental Churches or Congregation for the Eastern Churches ( la, Congregatio pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus), is a dicaste ...

and in 2005 was elevated in a rank of Mitred Archpriest. On 1 June 2019 Mitred Archpriest Hovera was appointed by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

as the first

of the newly created Apostolic Administration of Kazakhstan and Central Asia for Faithful of Byzantine Rite without dignity of bishop.

Personal details

His father, Yaroslav Hovera, was a prisoner in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

and spent 15 years in the

corrective labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...

. Apostolic Administrator Hovera has two brothers, who also are a clergymen: Rev. Andriy Ivan Hovera (born 1966),

Synkellos ''Synkellos'' ( el, σύγκελλος), latinized as ''syncellus'', is an ecclesiastical office in the Eastern Rite churches. In the Byzantine Empire, the ''synkellos'' of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople was a position of major import ...

of the

Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Ternopil–Zboriv The Archeparchy of Ternopil - Zboriv is an ecclesiastical territory or ecclesiastical province of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church — a particular Eastern Catholic Church, that is located in Ukraine. It was erected in 1807. As a metropolitan ...

, and Bishop Yosafat Hovera (born 1967), Archiepiscopal Exarch of

Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Lutsk The Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Lutsk (Lutsk of the Ukrainians) is an Archiepiscopal Exarchate (rare Eastern Catholic pre-diocesan jurisdiction, comparable to a Patriarchal exarchate, Apostolic exarchate or Latin Apostolic vicariate; both other ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hovera, Vasyl 1972 births Living people Religious leaders from Ivano-Frankivsk John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin alumni Ukrainian Eastern Catholics 21st-century Eastern Catholic clergy