Andrey Sheptytsky

Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky led his Church for forty-three years, navigating a period of extreme political instability marked by two world wars and the succession of seven different political regimes (Austrian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Soviet, Nazi, and Soviet again).

Monastic restoration and religious foundations: Concerned with revitalizing the spiritual life of his Church, he was the restorer of Studite monasticism (monks of the rule of Saint Theodore the Studite). With his brother, Blessed Klymentiy Sheptytsky, he founded the Holy Dormition Lavra in Univ in 1925 for the formation of Studite monks. He also introduced the Redemptorist fathers of the Byzantine rite to Ukraine to support the effort of evangelization and catechesis.

Education, culture, and social action: In 1928, he founded the Lviv Theological Academy, entrusting its direction to Father Josyf Slipyj (future cardinal and his successor). A great patron and protector of the arts, he founded the National Museum in Lviv in 1905 (which bears his name today), to which he donated nearly 10,000 art objects and icons from his personal collection. He also created a free clinic for the poor, financed numerous scholarships for young artists, and actively supported Ukrainian cultural and educational organizations.

Pioneer of ecumenism: Long before the Second Vatican Council, Sheptytsky was a precursor of ecumenical dialogue. He worked tirelessly for reconciliation between Ukrainians, Poles, and Russians, as well as for the rapprochement between Catholics and Orthodox. In 1925, he actively participated in the Malines Conversations under the presidency of Cardinal Mercier, presenting a notable paper entitled "The Psychology of Union."

Resistance to totalitarianism and the rescue of Jews: During the Second World War, after initially hoping that the German invasion would liberate Ukraine from Stalinist terror, he quickly realized the monstrous nature of the Nazi regime. In February 1942, he wrote directly to Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler to protest against the massacre of Jews and to forbid the Ukrainian auxiliary police from participating in it. In November 1942, he published his famous pastoral letter "Thou Shalt Not Kill" (Ne Ubyj), read in all parishes, firmly condemning mass murders and threatening their perpetrators with excommunication.

With the help of his brother Klymentiy, he organized a clandestine rescue network, hiding more than 150 Jewish children and several rabbis (including David Kahane, future Chief Rabbi of the Israeli Air Force) in his own residence, in Saint George's Cathedral, and in various Greek Catholic monasteries.

Metropolitan Andrey passed away on November 1, 1944, in Lviv, as the Red Army reoccupied the region. His public funeral was tolerated by the Soviet regime, but a few months later, the authorities arrested the entire Greek Catholic episcopate and forced the Church to go underground.

The reputation of holiness of Andrey Sheptytsky was immediate and lasting. His cause for beatification was officially opened on December 5, 1958, at the initiative of his successor, Patriarch Josyf Slipyj, then in exile in Rome after eighteen years in the Gulag. However, the process was slowed for several decades due to the political situation in Soviet Ukraine, which prevented access to diocesan and historical archives. It was only after the independence of Ukraine in 1991 that historians and theologians were able to exhaustively study the immense corpus of his writings and actions.

On July 16, 2015, Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky. By this decree, officially published on July 17, 2015, he was declared Venerable.

The cause for beatification is currently in its final phase, awaiting the official recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession.

The spirituality of Andrey Sheptytsky was deeply rooted in the theological and liturgical tradition of the Christian East, while remaining in perfect communion with the Apostolic See of Rome. Despite his aristocratic origins, he lived personally in great evangelical poverty, dedicating all his material resources to the relief of the poor and the development of his Church.

His legacy remains immense in Ukraine and within the Greek-Catholic diaspora throughout the world. He is considered the father of modern Ukraine for his role in preserving the cultural and spiritual identity of his people in the face of Nazi and Soviet totalitarianism. His heroic action on behalf of Jews during the Holocaust inspires deep veneration, and several Jewish organizations, as well as survivors he saved, continue to campaign for him to be officially recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by the Yad Vashem memorial.