Andriy Ishchak

Blessed Andriy Ishchak (Ukrainian: Андрі́й Іща́к; 23 September 1887 - 26 June 1941) was a Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest and martyr.

Andriy Ishchak
Born23 September 1887
Died26 June 1941
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
Beatified27 June 2001 by Pope John Paul II

Ishchak was born in the city of Mykolayiv in the Lviv Oblast.[1] He studied theology at universities in Lviv (Ukraine) and Innsbruck (Austria). He received his doctorate of theology from the University of Innsbruck in 1914 and was ordained to the priesthood.[2][3] He taught Dogmatic Theology and Canon Law at the Lviv Theological Academy from 1928,[3] while serving as priest in the village of Sykhiv.

On 26 June 1941 he was killed in Sykhiv by soldiers of the retreating Soviet Army.[1][2][3] He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 27 June 2001.[1]

Ivan Kuchytskyi recounts the events of Fr Ishchak's death in his own testimony.

"As the war began, the priest was taken from Persenkivka, the neighboring station. Sometime in the afternoon they took him, detained him until the evening, then they let him go. My dad, because they knew each other well, told him: ' Father, when they let you go, I would advise you to hide for a few days.' It was already clear that the Germans were coming and that the Bolsheviks would be fleeing. 'Hide yourself and we'll survive.' B the priest said: 'Ivan, the shepherd doesn't abandon his flock. And I can't leave my parishioners and conceal myself.' In two days, the military came and took him from his home. It was overgrown there with bushes, some distance from the parish, maybe half a kilometre. they brought him there and killed him. They shot him in the stomach and, and it looked like they also stabbed him with a knife."[3]

References
  1. Biographies of twenty five Greek-Catholic Servants of God at the website of the Vatican
  2. Beatification of the Servants of God on June 27, 2001 Archived November 29, 2014, at the Wayback Machine at the website of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
  3. Church of the Martyrs: The New Saints of Ukraine. Lviv, Ukraine: St John's Monastery. 2002. p. 16. ISBN 966-561-345-6.
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