Bishop Yosafat Oleh Hovera ( uk, Йосафат Олег Говера; born 12 September 1967 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 ...

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

) is 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 ...

hierarch as an Archiepiscopal Exarch of Ukrainian Catholic Archiepiscopal Exarchate of Lutsk and Titular Bishop of Caesariana since 15 January 2008.

Life

Bishop Hovera was born in the family of clandestine Greek-Catholics in

, where he grew up. After graduation from school he joined a clandestine theological seminary. 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 ...

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 ...

on 30 May 1990, after completing clandestine theological studies, and was appointed as a parish priest in Velyka Berezovytsia. Fr. Hovera continued his studies in the

Catholic University of Lublin John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin ( pl, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, la, Universitas Catholica Lublinensis Ioannis Pauli II, abbreviation KUL), established in 1918. It is the only private college in Poland with the s ...

from 1996 until 1999. After returning in the Ukraine he was appointed as a vice-rector of the Major Theological Seminary in

Ternopil Ternópil ( uk, Тернопіль, Ternopil' ; pl, Tarnopol; yi, טאַרנאָפּל, Tarnopl, or ; he, טארנופול (טַרְנוֹפּוֹל), Tarnopol; german: Tarnopol) is a city in the west of Ukraine. Administratively, Ternopi ...

(1999–2004). During 2004–2007 he again continued his studies, but this time 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 ...

, in the Pontifical Oriental Institute with a licentiate degree in pastoral theology. In 2007 he was appointed as a Rector of the Theological Seminary in Ternopil. On 15 January 2008 Fr. Hovera was appointed, and on 7 April 2008 was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

to the

Episcopate 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 ...

as the Titular Bishop of Caesariana. The principal consecrator was Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, the Head 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 ...

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 ...

in Karaganda. Bishop Hovera has a 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 metropolita ...

, and Rev. Vasyl Hovera (born 1972), Apostolic Administrator for Apostolic Administration of Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hovera, Yosafat 1967 births Living people Religious leaders from Ivano-Frankivsk John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin alumni Pontifical Oriental Institute alumni Academic staff of the Pontifical Oriental Institute Ukrainian Eastern Catholics Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church