Lubachivsky, Myroslav
Lubachivsky, Myroslav Ivan or Liubachivsky [Любачівський, Мирослав Іван; Ljubačivs'kyj], b 24 June 1914 in Dolyna, Tovmach. county, Galicia, d 14 December 2000 in Lviv. Ukrainian religious leader, head of the Ukrainian Catholic church (UCC), major archbishop (from 1984), and cardinal (from 1985). He attended an elementary school in Dolyna (1920–24) and later completed his secondary education at the First State Gymnasium in Stryi (1925–33). In 1934–7 he studied at the Greek Catholic Theological Academy in Lviv, and then continued his theological studies at the University of Innsbruck (1937–38), residing at the Collegium Canisianum. He was ordained as deacon on 18 September 1938, and as priest on 21 September 1938 by Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky in Lviv. After his ordination, Lubachivsky returned to Innsbruck to pursue doctoral studies. Following the 1938 annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany and the closure of the Catholic Theology Faculty in Innsbruck, he continued his studies at the newly founded Pontifical Faculty of Theology in the Collegium Canisianum, which relocated to Sitten, Switzerland. On 3 July 1941 he defended his doctoral dissertation, entitled Des heiligen Basilius liturgischer Kampf gegen den Arianismus (Saint Basil’s Liturgical Struggle against Arianism), which analyzed Saint Basil the Great’s opposition to Arianism as expressed through the liturgical texts he authored and edited. In 1942 Lubachivsky moved to Rome, where he earned a licentiate in biblical studies from the Pontifical Biblical Institute (1942–44), and a licentiate in philosophy from the Gregorian University (1945). Between 1945 and 1947 he studied medicine at the Sapienza University of Rome and worked with the Ukrainian Relief Committee in Rome, assisting Ukrainian refugees and prisoners of war in western Europe.
In 1947 Lubachivsky moved to the United States of America. From 1947 to 1949 he served as secretary to Bishop Ambrose Senyshyn and to the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee, and as secretary of the Ukrainian section of the National Catholic Welfare Conference. During this time, he also taught the Ukrainian language at Saint Basil Preparatory School and the German language at the College of Saint Basil the Great in Stamford, Connecticut. He served in parishes in Hamtramck, Michigan (1948–49), and in Latrobe and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (1950), and in 1950 organized a new parish in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From 1951 to 1967, he served at SS Peter and Paul Parish in Cleveland, Ohio. He became a US citizen in 1952.
In 1967–68, Lubachivsky taught Ukrainian at Saint Josaphat's Ukrainian Pontifical College in Rome, worked for the Ukrainian Service of Vatican Radio, and continued his studies in biblical scholarship. Between 1968 and 1971 he was spiritual director at the theological seminary of Saint Josaphat in Washington, DC, taught at the Catholic University of America, and administered parishes in Manassas and Richmond, Virginia. From 1971 to 1977 he taught Ukrainian, German, philosophy, and religion at the all-girls’ high school Saint Basil Academy in Fox Chase neighborhood of Philadelphia and Ukrainian at Manor College in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, both institutions founded by the Basilian order of nuns. During this time, he also served at the Ukrainian Catholic cathedral in Philadelphia (1972), as administrator of Sacred Heart Mission in Fox Chase (1973–77), and as chaplain for the Sisters of Saint Basil the Great. Between 1977 and 1979 he served as spiritual director at the Ukrainian Catholic Theological Seminary in Stamford. On 15 April 1978 he was named a Prelate of Honor of His Holiness by Pope Paul VI.
On 13 September 1979 Pope John Paul II appointed Lubachivsky Archbishop-Metropolitan of Philadelphia; he was consecrated bishop on 12 November 1979 in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican by the pope, with Yosyf Slipy and Maksym Hermaniuk as co-consecrators and installed in Philadelphia on 4 December 1979. On 24 March 1980, during the extraordinary synod of bishops of the Ukrainian Catholic church in Rome, he was elected coadjutor cum iure successionis (with the right of succession) to Major Archbishop Yosyf Slipy and subsequently relocated to Rome. After Slipy’s death on 7 September 1984, Lubachivsky became head of the Ukrainian Catholic church. On 25 May 1985 he was appointed cardinal priest of Saint Sophia Church in Via Boccea.
In 1989, upon reaching the age of 75, Lubachivsky offered his resignation, which was declined by Pope John Paul II. On 25–26 June 1990, Lubachivsky chaired a synod in Rome at which, for the first time since the legalization of UCC in Ukraine in 1989, bishops from both homeland and the diaspora participated. On 30 March 1991 he arrived in Ukraine. The visit was originally supposed to end on 10 June, but after assessing the situation on the ground and meeting with Pope John Paul II—then visiting Poland—on 2 June 1991 in Przemyśl, he decided to remain in Lviv. From 16 to 31 May 1992 he chaired the first synod of UCC bishops held in Ukraine since the Church emerged from the underground. On 29 August 1992 he presided over the reburial of Yosyf Slipy’s remains, brought from Rome, in the crypt of Saint George's Cathedral in Lviv.
Between 1991 and 1995 Lubachivsky was actively engaged in restoring and establishing new structures of the Ukrainian Catholic church in Ukraine, including educational institutions. During this period, four new eparchies were created, and the Lviv Theological Academy was re-established in 1994. On 18 July 1993 Lubachivsky consecrated the cornerstone for the construction of the first Greek Catholic church in Kyiv since 1929.
On 19 October 1996, due to health complications, Lubachivsky withdrew from the leadership of UCC, and was replaced by then auxiliary-bishop Lubomyr Husar. He lived in Lviv until his death and was buried in the crypt of Saint George's Cathedral.
As a pastor and theologian, Lubachivsky devoted his writings to catechetical and pastoral themes. His theological legacy includes several volumes of sermons and reflections on the Gospels and various aspects of Christian life, along with works on liturgy, prayer, and history of the Ukrainian church. He also translated the Catechism of the Council of Trent, writings on moral theology and Christology, and a commentary on the New Testament.
As UCC head, he continued the efforts of his predecessor, Yosyf Slipy, to achieve recognition of the patriarchal status of the Ukrainian Catholic church, actively advocated for the restoration of the UCC’s structures in Poland, and its legalization in Ukraine. He also promoted reconciliation between the Ukrainian and Polish peoples. From 8 to 17 October 1987 several meetings of Ukrainian and Polish bishops, led by Lubachivsky and Cardinal Józef Glemp, took place in Rome, during which the joint declaration on the forgiveness and reconciliation between the Poles and Ukrainians was signed.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lentsyk, V. ‘Arkhyiepsykop-mytropolyt Kyr Myroslav-Ivan Liubachivs'kyi – vyznachnyi bohoslov i dushpastyr,’ Svoboda (26 September 1979)
‘Vysokopreosviashchennishomu vladytsi Myroslavovi Lubachivskomu Verkhovnomu Arkhyiepyskopovi Filiadelfiï i Mytropolytovi ukraïntsiv u ZSA sotvory, Hospody, mnohiï i blahiï lita!,’ Svitlo 11 (1979)
Blažejovskyj, D. Byzantine Kyivan Rite Students in Pontifical Colleges, and in Seminaries, Universities and Institutes of Central and Western Europe (1576–1983) (Rome 1984)
‘Blazhennishomu ottsevi Myroslavovi Ivanovi Kardynalovi Lubachivs'komu Verkhovnomu Arkhyiepyskopovi Ukraïns'koï Katolyts'koï Tserkvy sotvory, Hospody, mnohiï i blahiï lita!,’ Svitlo 6 (1985)
Haliv, M. ‘Vitaiemo Blazhennishoho Patriiarkha Myroslava z pidnesenniam ioho do hidnosty Kardynala,’ Patriiarkhat no 6 (1985)
Bourdeaux, M. ‘Myroslav Lubachivsky,’ The Guardian (30 January 2001)
Tsunovs'kyi, O. ‘Z biohrafiï Patriiarkha Myroslava Ivana Liubachivs'koho v 1914–1979 rokakh: z nahody 100-ï richnytsi z dnia ioho narodzhennia,’ Institute of Church History (30 June 2014)
Anatolii Babynskyi
[This article was written in 2025.]