Blessed Basil Velychkovsky
Blessed Basil Velychkovsky, C.SS.R. (born January 1, 1903 AD in Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk), Ukraine; died June 30, 1973 AD in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) was a Ukrainian Redemptorist priest and bishop who survived three death sentences and seventeen years in Soviet labor camps for his Catholic faith. He is one of the great confessor-martyrs of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church under Communist persecution. After his final expulsion from the USSR in 1972, he arrived in the West and died in Winnipeg, Canada, just months later — the physical damage of his decades of imprisonment having proved irreparable. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 27, 2001. His feast day is June 27.
Stored in Cargo: Blessed Basil Velychkovsky
| Blessed Basil Velychkovsky | |
|---|---|
| Feast Day | June 27 |
| Profession | Ukrainian Redemptorist priest and bishop; confessor of the faith; prisoner of the Soviet Gulag; Ukrainian Greek Catholic martyr; pastoral minister to the Ukrainian diaspora |
| Rel. Affiliation | Catholic Church; Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church; Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists, C.SS.R.); Ukrainian Catholic martyrs of Communism; Soviet Gulag martyrs |
| Patronage | Ukraine; Ukrainian Greek Catholics; prisoners; those tortured for their faith; victims of Communist persecution; Redemptorists; Winnipeg Ukrainian Catholic community; Canada |
| Attributes | Redemptorist habit (dark cassock); Ukrainian priestly/episcopal vestments (Byzantine rite); a cross; prison bars or Siberian landscape (Soviet imprisonment); three death sentences (his triple condemnation); Ukrainian embroidery (vyshyvanka) |
| Birthplace | Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk), Galicia, Ukraine |
| Death Place | Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Cause of Death | Natural death, hastened by years of Soviet imprisonment and torture; died June 30, 1973, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; he was 70 years old; he had been expelled from the Soviet Union in January 1972 after decades of imprisonment, torture, and labor camps; he spent his final year in Rome and then in Canada ministering to the large Ukrainian Catholic diaspora community; the physical damage from his years of imprisonment proved fatal, and he died in Winnipeg; the doctors attributed his death directly to the long-term effects of his Soviet imprisonment; he was beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 27, 2001 |
| Primary Shrine | Ukrainian Greek Catholic Eparchy of Winnipeg — his tomb; June 27 feast; Ukrainian Catholic diaspora pilgrimage |
| Liturgical Class | Not in universal Roman calendar; June 27 feast in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and in the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) |
| Historic Class | Not in 1962 calendar |
Biography
Basil Velychkovsky was born January 1, 1903, in Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk) in Galicia, Ukraine. He entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) and was ordained a priest in 1925.
He worked as a Redemptorist priest in western Ukraine. When the Soviets occupied Galicia in 1939, he was arrested and condemned to death. His sentence was commuted and he spent the next decade in Soviet labor camps. He was arrested again after the war, again condemned to death, again commuted, and spent further years in the Gulag.
Over the course of his ministry under Soviet rule, he received three death sentences and spent approximately 17 years in Soviet labor camps. He was finally expelled from the USSR in January 1972.
He came to Canada to minister to the large Ukrainian Catholic diaspora community in Winnipeg. The physical damage from his decades of imprisonment proved fatal: he died June 30, 1973, in Winnipeg.
He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 27, 2001.
Significant locations
Legend
Birth location: Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk), Galicia, Ukraine
Death location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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Feast day
June 27
Veneration
Blessed Basil Velychkovsky (1903–1973) was a Ukrainian Redemptorist priest who received three Soviet death sentences, spent 17 years in Siberian labor camps for his Catholic faith, was expelled from the USSR in 1972, and died in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1973 — the damage of his Soviet imprisonment having proved irreparable; one of the great confessor-martyrs of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Beatified John Paul II, 2001. Feast June 27.
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