Kyiv, Ukraine, Jun 6, 2017 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, Major Archbishop Emeritus of Kyiv-Halych and former head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, died May 31 at the age of 84.
Among his many accomplishments as priest, bishop, and cardinal, he is well remembered for welcoming St. John Paul II on his visit to Kyiv and Lviv in Ukraine in 2001, when he was the first Pope to visit the former Soviet republic.
Cardinal Husar was born in 1933 in Lviv. He fled from the Soviets in Ukraine with his parents in 1944, first to Austria, and then to the United States in 1949. He studied at St. Basil’s College Seminary in Stamford, Conn. in the early 1950s, and continued his studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington and at Fordham University in New York.
He was ordained a priest of the Ukrainian Eparchy of Stamford in March 1958 and taught at St. Basil’s College Seminary until 1969. From 1966 to 1969 he was the pastor of Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church in Kerhonkson, N.Y.
He was secretly consecrated a bishop in 1977, and celebrated the 40th anniversary of his episcopal ordination in April of this year. His consecration was unacknowledged publicly until 1996 due to Blessed Paul VI's Ostpolitik efforts at reaching out to the Russian Orthodox Church and the Eastern Bloc.
Bishop Husar returned to Ukraine in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union and served as spiritual director of Holy Spirit Seminary in Lviv.
The Ukrainian Catholic synod of bishops elected him major archbishop – father and head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church – in 2000, and St. John Paul II made him a cardinal the following month. He resigned his position as in February 2011 at the age of 77.
Pope Francis sent a letter to Cardinal Husar’s successor, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk ofKyiv-Halych, calling the late cardinal “one of the highest and most respected moral authorities of recent decades for the Ukrainian people,” and praising him for his love and warmth, especially the young.
He called Cardinal Husar a father and spiritual guide for his Church, “which he gathered from the 'catacombs' where she was forced to flee persecution, and to whom he restored not only the ecclesiastical structures, but above all the joy of her history, founded on faith through and beyond any suffering.”
The Pope expressed his desire to “be among those praying to the heavenly Father” for Cardinal Husar’s soul.
The Divine Liturgy for the cardinal's burial was held June 5 at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection.
Cardinal Husar is greatly admired in Ukraine, where signs have already appeared calling for his speedy canonization.
Article Archive
Ukraine's Cardinal Lubomyr Husar recalled as a spiritual father
Related Articles • More Articles
St. Stanislaus of Szczepanów is depicted as the patron saint of Poland in a miniature painted by Stanislaw Samostrzelnik of Mogila. / Credit: Polona Digital Library|Wikimedia|PD-ArtWashington, D.C. Newsroom, May 8, 2024 / 16:53 pm (CNA).Pope Francis during his Wednesday general audience invoked the intercession of St. Stanislaus, patron saint of Poland, for peace in Ukraine and Israel.Addressing Polish pilgrims in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, the pope said: "Today you celebrate the solemnity of St. Stanislaus, bishop and martyr, patron of your homeland.""St. John Paul II wrote of him," Francis went on, "that from high in heaven, he shared in the sufferings and hopes of your nation, sustaining its survival, especially during the Second World War."Francis prayed that the intercession of St. Stanislaus "obtain, even today, the gift of peace in Europe and throughout the world, especially in Ukraine and the Middle East."What does Poland have to do with these wars? This co...
null / Credit: ShutterstockCNA Staff, May 8, 2024 / 17:23 pm (CNA).A trio of Catholic radio networks has filed a petition against the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over new requirements that will soon mandate that all U.S. radio and television stations publish information about the race and gender of their employees.In a 3-2 ruling in February, the commissioners of the FCC reinstated a requirement that radio stations must annually file a document, known as Form 395-B, that lists the race and gender of their employees.The FCC governs radio stations transmitting on AM or FM frequencies, satellite radio and TV stations, cable networks, and broadcast TV stations. These entities are required to maintain a summary of publicly accessible information known as a public file, with varying requirements among the types of stations regarding what must be contained in the file.The FCC had not required Form 395-B since 2004, following a 2001 ruling by t...
Servant of God Nino Baglieri. / Credit: ANS/SalesiansACI Prensa Staff, May 8, 2024 / 17:53 pm (CNA).The diocesan phase of the cause of beatification of the Servant of God Nino Baglieri has been closed in Modica, a town in southern Sicily. Overcoming his bitterness due to his quadriplegic condition, Baglieri gave himself to the mission of evangelizing through the means available to him. The closing of the diocesan phase, according to the Salesian News Agency, took place on Sunday, May 5, in Mother of St. Peter church, where a solemn Eucharist was celebrated by Salvatore Rumeo, the bishop of Noto. In his homily, the prelate related that on May 5, 1951, Baglieri received baptism, "becoming a Christian."Regarding the servant of God, he emphasized that "prayer for Nino was everything: Despite his suffering, like a light that shines and burns, he managed to infect others with the meaning of true prayer."Addressing the servant of God in prayer, Rumeo said: "We are grateful t...