On Friday, 22 August, the Eparch of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family of London, Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, celebrated the blessing of a newly-built Basilica in the village of Starun, Ivano-Frankivsk, in western Ukraine.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of Kyiv–Galicia and head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, blessed the Basilica dedicated to Bishop Martyr Simeon Lukash in the presence of thousands of pilgrims, hundreds of clergy and religious, Archbishop Volodymyr Viytyshyn, the Papal Nuncio and more than 20 bishops.
The blessing was made on a day that Pope Leo XIV dedicated to fasting and prayer for war-torn Ukraine and Gaza, as well as the world’s other wars and conflicts.
Bishop Nowakowski explains why Simeon Lukash, a Ukrainian Catholic Bishop martyred in Soviet times, remains an inspiration for Ukrainian Catholics:
“Prayer and deep faith in God and unity with ‘Peter’ was the bedrock that allowed the bishops, clergy and religious along with the faithful of the Ukrainian Catholic Church to endure their several decades of clandestine existence in the last century in the Soviet Union.
“One of those valiant people was Bishop Simeon Lukach, he was a Ukrainian Catholic Bishop who was martyred during the Soviet period. In 2001 he was Beatified by Pope St John Paul II. Today we celebrate his feast day, on the exact day of his death in 1964. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union people have been gathering to pray in his home town where he died. It is also today that His Holiness Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics to pray and fast for peace in the world – especially in Ukraine.
“In the spirit of this special day His Beatitude Sviatoslav consecrated the Altar and blessed this new Basilica which has become a special place of spiritual healing during this time of war.”
Images © Blessed Symeon Lukach Pilgrimage Centre
