Hryhoriy Balahurak Explained

Hryhoriy Balahurak, O.S.B.M.
Birth Name:Volodymyr Balahurak
Birth Date:1909 7, df=yes
Death Place:Korkino, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Soviet Union, now Russian Federation
Bishop Of:Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Ivano-Frankivsk (auxiliary)
Appointed:April 1945
Ordination:21 May 1936 (Priest)
Ordained By:Bl. Josaphat Kotsylovsky
Consecration:April 1945 (Bishop)
Consecrated By:Bl. Hryhoriy Khomyshyn

Hryhoriy Volodymyr Balahurak, O.S.B.M. (Ukrainian: Григорій Володимир Балагурак; 5 July 1909 – 2 October 1965) was a Ukrainian Greek Catholic clandestine hierarch. He was an auxiliary bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Ivano-Frankivsk from 1945 to 1965.

Life

Born in Stanislaviv, Austrian-Hungarian Empire (present-day – Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukraine) in 1909 and in 1925 joined the religious Order of Saint Basil the Great.[1] He was professed on 1 May 1927, solemn professed on 16 December 1934 and was ordained a priest on 21 May 1936 by Blessed Bishop Josaphat Kotsylovsky. After ordination he served a short time in the monastery in his native Stanislaviv and then, from 1938, as parish priest in Krystynopol. From 1941 until 1945 Fr. Hryhoriy was a superior in the monastery in Stanislaviv.[1] He was arrested, because the Communist regime abolished the Greek-Catholic Church, and exiled in Siberia in October 1949. Released in 1955, but the second time arrested in 1957 and imprisoned until his death.[1]

In April 1945 Fr. Balahurak was consecrated to the Episcopate as auxiliary bishop. The principal and single consecrator was Blessed Bishop Hryhoriy Khomyshyn, who a short time later was arrested and imprisoned by Communists.[2]

He died in exile on 2 October 1965.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Official Site of the Hutsylskyi Kray newspaper. uk:ЄПИСКОП – СТРАДНИК. http://gk.if.ua/2011/10/21/4336/. uk. 2016-12-01.
  2. Web site: catholic-hierarchy.org. Bishop Grygory Balahurak, O.S.B.M.. 2016-12-01.