ABOUT HIERARCHICAL PRIESTHOOD

According to Canon Law

CAN. 177 §1. An eparchy is a portion of the people of God that is entrusted to a bishop to shepherd, with the cooperation of the presbyters, in such a way that, adhering to its pastor and gathered by him through the Gospel and the Eucharist in the Holy Spirit, it constitutes a particular Church in which the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church of Christ truly exists and is operative.

CAN. 178 The eparchial bishop, to whom the eparchy has been entrusted to shepherd in his own name, governs it as the vicar and legate of Christ; the power which he exercises personally in the name of Christ, is proper, ordinary, and immediate, although by the supreme authority of the Church its exercise is ultimately regulated and can be circumscribed within certain limits in view of the benefit of the Church or of the Christian faithful.

The fullness of pastoral ministry is given to the bishops. They are heirs to the fullness of the apostolic ministry, that is, to the fullness of the grace of the priesthood. In his eparchy, the bishop is the one who has primary responsibility for teaching the Word of God, leading the people of God, and sanctifying them. The sanctifying ministry particular to a bishop is the ordination of bishops, presbyters, and deacons, the consecration of Holy Chrism, and the consecration of antimensia.

The Rites of Ordination of Bishop

At the ordination of a bishop, which requires no less than three other bishops, the candidate declares a profession of faith in which he expounds in detail the Church’s doctrine about the Most Holy Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Holy Mysteries. This is because the bishop is the teacher and the one who proclaims the Gospel to his flock. Through the ordaining bishop, the Church asks Christ that the one receiving the grace of the high-priesthood may become “an imitator of the true Shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep; a guide to the blind; a light to those in darkness; discipline for the unwise and a teacher to children; a beacon in the world; that he may lead to perfection the souls entrusted to him. “370 Symeon of Thessalonica explains that through ordination, the bishop, as the head of the local Church entrusted to him, “accepts as a bride the one who is the bride of Christ,” that is, the Church. “This is because [Christ] taught us that pastoral care and concern for her is evidence of love for him.”371 The close bond established between the newly ordained shepherd and his flock is expressed several times during his ordination by the explicit naming of the local Church (eparchy) to which he is ordained. The presence of no less than three ordaining bishops, that is, bishops of other eparchies, bears witness to the bond that exists between local Churches. The Church’s unity is thus manifested.

Most Reverend Bishop Venedykt (Aleksiychuk), bishop of Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Chicago(born January 16, 1968 in Borshchivka, Kostopil Raion, Rivne Oblast, Ukrainian SSR). Became Auxiliarybishop of Lviv on September 5, 2010; became bishop of Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Chicago on April 20, 2017.Most Reverend Bishop Venedykt (Aleksiychuk), bishop of Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Chicago(born January 16, 1968 in Borshchivka, Kostopil Raion, Rivne Oblast, Ukrainian SSR). Became Auxiliarybishop of Lviv on September 5, 2010; became bishop of Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Chicago on April 20, 2017.

Biography

Was born on January 16, 1968 in Borshchivka village, Kostopil district, Rivne region.

From 1975 till 1983 he studied at the Borshchivka grade school (eight-grade school).

In 1983 he began his studies at Rivne medical college, completing his degree in 1987 as a Physician’s Assistant. After graduation, he worked as an Emergency Medical Technician at the Ambulance Station in Kostopil.

From 1987 to 1989 he served in the military. Afterwards, from 1989 to 1990 he worked as a Physician’s Assistant, initially at a city clinic, and later at the sanatorium “Karpaty” in the city of Truskavets.

From 1990 to 1993 he studied at the Drohobych Spiritual Seminary. On October 9, 1991, he was ordained a deacon by Bishop Phylymon (Kurchaba). On March 29, 1992 he received his priestly ordination from His Beatitude Myroslav-Ivan (Lyubachivskyi).

In April 1992 he was appointed administrator at a parish in Bystrytsia village, Drohobych deanery. Simultaneously he served as Assistant Priest at Holy Trinity Church in Drohobych and was responsible children’s ministry within the deanery. From 1992 to 1994 he also worked for the Patriarchal Catechetical Commission where he was responsible for the organization of mission work in Eastern Ukraine.

On May 13, 1993, he joined the Univ Holy Dormition Lavra of the Studite Order. He accepted Tonsure on October 13, 1993, and received the Little Schema on December 31, 1995.

Beginning in July 1994 he worked on the renewal of monastic life and the restoration of the Monastery of Borys and Hlib in Polotsk (Belarus), while simultaneously serving at the parishes in Polotsk, Vitebsk, Gomel, Mogilev, Brest (Belarus Greek Catholic Church). He was the spiritual father of Christian Youth Community in Minsk.

In 1996 he completed a Masters of Theology Degree at Lublin Catholic University. The topic of his master’s thesis was “Christian spirituality according to St. John of Kronstadt”.

On December 3, 1996 he was transferred to St. Catharines, Canada with the aim to found a monastery there. At the time, he also served at the parishes of Grimsby and Beamsville (Toronto Eparchy of the UGCC). He returned to Ukraine in April 1999, after being elected hegumen of the Holy Dormition Univ Lavra. In May 2000 he was re-elected hegumen and in May 2005 elected for a third term.

In October 2004 he continued his theological studies at Lublin Catholic University, completing his Licentiate Degree in 2006. At the same University, on April 18, 2008 he defended his PhD thesis on the topic “The Superior as a Spiritual Father. Investigation in the light of the works of Saint Theodore the Studite.”

2004-’10 – Served as a member of the Patriarchal Commission of Monasticism.

2006 – Served as administrator of St. Nicholas parish in Peremyshlyany.

2006-’08 – Served as the Head of the Secretariat of UGCC Council of Monasticism.

2007-’09 – Headed the UGCC Liturgical Council on preparing texts of divine services.

2007-’10 – Served as the Head of the Council of Higher Superiors of Monasteries of the UGCC.

2009 – Appointed a member of the Secretariat of the Patriarchal Sobor, which was held in Brazil in 2011.

2008-’10 – He completed a course of Practical Psychology at the European School of Correspondential Education (Kharkiv).

2009-’10 – Studied “Propaedeutics of mental disorders” at the Ukrainian Community of Psychiatrists.

2009-’12 – Studied pedagogy and psychology at the Ignatianum Academy in Krakow (Poland).

On August 3, 2010 His Beatitude Lyubomyr Husar, Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Galicia, by general consent of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, appointed hieromonk Venedykt Aleksiychuk bishop-auxiliary of Lviv Archeparchy.[1] His Episcopal Chirotonia (Ordination) was held on September 5, 2010 at St. George’s Cathedral in Lviv (the main consecrator – Archbishop Ihor Voznyak, Metropolitan of Lviv, co-consecrators: Bishop of Sambir-Drohobych Yulian Voronovskyi and Bishop of Stamford Pavlo Chomytskyi).

On September 8, 2010 he was appointed the Head of Staff of the Lviv Archeparchy Curia.

On September 26, 2011 he was appointed the Head of the Patriarchal Liturgical Commission of the UGCC. He also currently serves as the Chair of the Synodal Committee on Liturgical Issues.

Since 2014 he has been a member of the charitable religious community “Saint Sophia” in Rome.

In 2014 to 2016 he studied in the Key Executive MBA Program at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv and obtained a Masters Degree in Business Administration in June 2016.

On July 13, 2015 His Beatitude Sviatoslav named him a Senator of the Ukrainian Catholic University.

On December 14, 2015 he was awarded with the Cross of Military Chaplain.

On April 20, 2017, Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of the Eparchy of Saint Nicholas of Chicago of the Ukrainians, United States of America.