VATICAN BEGINS PROCESS OF BEATIFICATION OF METROPOLITAN SHEPTITSKY
Polish Radio reports that on 17 July, Roman Pope Francis issued a special decree regarding the heroism of the good deeds of Metropolitan Sheptitsky. This step is necessary to begin the process of beatification.
Previous attempts for beatification of the primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Andrei Sheptitsky, in the 1950s and 1960s were rejected by the Vatican, particularly because of the interference of Polish Primate Archbishop Stanislaw Wyszynski. However during a visit to Lvov in 2001, Pope John Paul II expressed admiration for the pastoral activity of Vladyka Andrei. The pontiff said that he hoped that at some time Sheptitsky would be added to the company of saints. (tr. by PDS, posted 18 July 2015)
VATICAN MAKES IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD BEATIFICATION OF METROPOLITAN ANDREI SHEPTITSKY
On Thursday, 16 July 2015, Pope Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he confirmed a decree of this agency pertaining to recognizing the spiritual heights manifested by the good works of candidates for glory. The first on this list is the servant of God Andrei Sheptitsky, the UGKTs metropolitan of Lvov.
The other three candidates for proclamation as blessed are Italian Bishop Giuseppe Karraro, Mexican priest Agostino Ramirez Barba, and Italian Franciscan Father Simplichiano Mareska.
Confirmation of the spiritual heights of the virtues manifested by them is one of the stages of the process, after which confirmed miracles received on the basis of a petition of the candidate for glory are necessary for beatification. This was reported by Radio Vatican.
Beatification (Lat. "beatificatio") is an act of adding one or another person to the ranks of the blessed and it is a kind of "lower degree" in the process of preparation for canonization, the direct addition of one to the company of saints.
Information: Andrei Sheptitsky (29 July 1865-1 November 1944) became head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in 1901. The metropolitan had several academic degrees: doctor of law, doctor of theology, doctor of philosophy.
Metropolitan Sheptitsky was the first of the senior hierarchs of the Greek Catholic Church who began using the national language in communication with believers. As a metropolitan, he visited Russia twice (1907, 1912) and Belarus. He aided the development of the Russian Greek Catholic Church. He created an apostolic vicariate of believers of the Greek Catholic Church in Bosnia. In 1907 he succeeded in gaining the appointment of a bishop for the USA and in 1912, for Ukrainians in Canada.
In the inter-war period, Metropolitan Sheptitsky continued work on restructuring the UGKTs. On his initiative, the Lvov Greek Catholic Academy was founded in 1928, as well as the Theological Academic Society.
During World War II, Sheptitsky raised the question of the uniting of all Christians of Ukraine around the Kiev patriarchate in unity with the Roman See.
The metropolitan encouraged the activity of academic cultural and educational societies "Enlightenment," "Native School," and "Farmer." He founded the Ukrainian National Museum and provided stipends for young Ukrainian artists for getting art education in the best academic institutions of Europe.
The process of the beatification of Metropolitan Andrei is now continuing. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 July 2015)
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