At the moment of the Soviet invasion on September 17, 1939, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was comprised of the Lviv Archeparchy and the auxiliary eparchies of Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk) and Przemyśl. This very vibrant church had approximately 2,100 parishes, over 2,000 priests, three seminaries, a theological academy, and around 150 monasteries with more than 1,100 religious. The stance of the Soviet regime towards the Greek Catholic Church was very harsh. The Catholic Church simply did not fit into the all-Russian national vision – it was formed by national minorities and was connected to Rome.
Many priests were imprisoned, deported, and some were killed. The Lviv metropolitan declared in 1941: “It is more or less certain that under the Bolsheviks we are all condemned to death – they do not hide their desire to suppress and destroy Christianity, to eradicate it even to the roots.”
From June 22 to 29, 1941, the Germans bombed Lviv and the Bolsheviks had to flee. Prisoners whom they could not condemn and transport to communist camps were massacred. During this time, at least several hundred prisoners were killed in Lviv (in Ukrainian territory, this amounted to tens of thousands of prisoners). One of them recalls the last days of the Lviv prison:
“The week from June 22 to 29, 1941, the bombing of the city, was especially difficult for the prisoners, who did not know what was happening outside. Father Zynovij, physically very exhausted, had a panic fear of the bombs. During that week, 16 other prisoners were in cell no. 17 along with Fr. Zynovij. Among them was one Polish priest and one Jew. The Catholics confessed on June 27, and that same day, the guards came and took away thirteen prisoners with their belongings. The Jew and two young men remained in the cell, one of whom was taken away the following night...”. From then on, Fr. Zynovij was never seen again by the fellow inmates of the cell. According to further testimonies, the communist guards brutally tortured him before his death, which occurred between June 27 and 29, and then crucified him on the prison wall...
In 1946, the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine was violently transferred under the Moscow Patriarchate. Those who refused this connection were prosecuted, and bishops and priests were generally deported to Siberia. From 1945 to 1950, 344 Greek Catholic clergy were sentenced.
In 2001, during his pastoral visit to Ukraine, Pope John Paul II beatified the Redemptorist Fr. Zynovij among a group of 25 Ukrainian new martyrs – Greek Catholic Christians martyred in Ukraine by the Soviet regime under various circumstances between 1935 and 1973.
Blessed Ukrainian new martyrs, intercede for us!
(based on the book by A. Riccardi, Century of Martyrs and the website of the Redemptorists)
