Nykyta Budka
Bishop and Martyr | |
---|---|
Born | Dobromirka, Austria-Hungary | 7 June 1877
Died | 28 September 1949 Karaganda, Soviet Union | (aged 72)
Venerated in | Catholic Church |
Beatified | 27 June 2001, Ukraine by Pope John Paul II |
Feast | 28 September |
Nykyta Budka (
Early life
He was born into a fairly well to-do and political active peasant family in the village of
In 1907 Budka was named the prefect of the seminary in Lviv. In 1909 he wrote a doctoral dissertation on Byzantine religious history 1909 entitled Діссертация докторска: Дисциплїна Грецкої Церкви в сьвітлі полєміки за часів Фотия, but was not able to defend it due to ill health and later his departure for Canada. Besides his other duties he was later also made an adviser to the marriage tribunal and a consultant on emigration issues, which became his real avocation. During his studies, in 1907, he organized a Galician branch of the St. Raphael Society (an immigrants' aid charity) to protect Ukrainian emigrants from Galicia and Bukovina, and worked in the organization for five years, during which time he toured Ukrainian settlements in Prussia and Bosnia. He was also the founder and editor of the monthly publication Емігрант ("Emigrant") from 1910 - 1912. During this time he was charged with the care of Ukrainian immigrants in Austria, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Canada and Bosnia by Metropolitan Andriy.
Consecration as bishop
He was appointed bishop for Ukrainian Catholics in Canada and
In Canada he helped to establish residences for Ukrainian youth, organize parishes, build churches and schools, and found the seminaries named for Andriy Sheptytsky in
Before the Great War, his greatest struggle was against a group of young
In Canada Budka is most famous for his pastoral letter just before the outbreak of World War I, in which he urged Ukrainians in Canada with reservist obligations to return to their homeland to enlist and fight. Their homeland was Austria, which soon was at war with Canada. Although he later retracted his letter, the damage was already done.[5] This helped inflame an existing suspicion and scrutiny of the Ukrainian Canadian community by the wider public and the government that led to the internment of Ukrainians in Canada during the war. Budka, who was naturalized as British subject (i.e. Canadian citizen) in 1918 or 1920[6] was charged twice with crimes of disloyalty and cleared in both cases.
Following the war he continued his organizational work despite his eparchy's precarious finances: he help found the Ukrainian National Council in Winnipeg in 1919, hosted a sobor (synod) in Yorkton in 1924. He continued until 1927, when he left for a visit to Rome and while there asked to be transferred back to Galicia, exhausted from his fifteen years at the head of the Canadian church.[7]
Martyrdom
In 1928, he returned to now Polish-controlled Galicia and became
Budka was beatified as a martyr on June 27, 2001, in a Byzantine rite ceremony by
Archbishop Volodymyr Sterniuk's words on the account Bishop Budka's death
"The nurse in the camp gave the following account; 'When patients died, their hospital gowns were removed. They placed the bodies in plastic bags, numbered them and attached a card to the bag with personal data. Then they transported the bodies to the nearest forest where wild animals ate them.' According to the nurse's account the bishops foresaw his own death. 'by surprise tomorrow I will not be here anymore.' And that is what happened. To show his respect and acknowledge the bishop's dignity, the camp guard left the prison clothes on the body's corpse. His remains were taken and left in the forest, just as was done with the bodies of his predecessors. Thinking about the goodness of this man of God, who had served his brothers to the last, many of the convicts got together the next morning to have a last look at this man who was the body of angelic goodness for so many. But all they found was a piece of his shirt sleeve."[9]
References
- ^ "Blessed Bishop Nykyta Budka Biography". archeparchy.ca. Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
- ^ Hryniuk, Stella (1988). "Pioneer Bishop, Pioneer Times: Nykyta Budka in Canada" (PDF). CCHA Historical Studies 55. pp. 29–30.
- ISBN 9780920862766.
- ^ Hryniuk, Stella (1988). "Pioneer Bishop, Pioneer Times: Nykyta Budka in Canada" (PDF). CCHA Historical Studies 55. p. 35.
- ^ Hryniuk, Stella (1988). "Pioneer Bishop, Pioneer Times: Nykyta Budka in Canada" (PDF). CCHA Historical Studies 55. pp. 21–41.
- ^ "Blessed Martyr Nykyta Budka 1877-1949". Edmonton Eparchy - Official Website. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-08-20.
- ^ Hryniuk, Stella (1988). "Pioneer Bishop, Pioneer Times: Nykyta Budka in Canada" (PDF). CCHA Historical Studies 55. p. 39.
- New York Times. 19 March 1946. Retrieved 17 January 2009.
- )