Our Apostolic Visitor, His Grace Bishop Hlib of Baretta

Our Apostolic Visitor, His Grace Bishop Hlib of Baretta. Bishop Hlib (Lonchyna) was born in Steubenville, Ohio, USA in 1954, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Bohdan Lonchyna of L'viv. By profession a philologist, Bohdan Lonchyna served on the Ukrainian National Committee during World War II, and by the grace of God he and his wife managed to get to the Americans and safety before the Communists could arrest them. Bishop Hlib's elder brother, also a priest, is Father Taras Lonchyna, of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic parish in Silver Spring, Maryland. Their mother and their sister live in Raleigh, North Carolina. Bishop Hlib grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where he attended Ukrainian Greek-Catholic day schools. After completing high school, the future Bishop attended the Ukrainian Catholic University in Rome and entered the Studite Monastery at Castelgandolfo. In July 1977 Patriarch Joseph ordained him to the Holy Priesthood. He served as Econome of the Monastery for six years, and then spent two years at the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in passaic, New Jersey, where Studite monks were serving at the time. He returned to Rome in 1985, and then returned to Ukraine with the other Studite monks from Rome when the collapse of the Soviet Union made that possible. In 2003, on becoming Bishop of Bareta and auxiliar to Patriarch Lubomyr, Bishop Hlib was sent back to Rome as Apocrisarius (Representative) of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church to the Vatican. While in Rome, Bishop Hlib received his doctorate in Sacred Liturgy from the Pontifical Oriental Institute; writing his dissertation on the Trebnyk of Metropolitan Andrew (Sheptytsky), which was published in 1925 by Stauropegion in L'viv and had been edited by Father Titus Myshkovsky of the Greek-Catholic Theological Academy in L'viv. Bishop Hlib was then appointed as the Apostolic Visitor for Ukrainian Greek-Catholics in Ireland, Italy, and Spain. Since 2006 His Grace has normally been resident in L'viv and Kyiv, so as to be available to Patriarch Lubomyr. The Bishop normally visits us at least once a year, and is in close touch with us by e-mail and by telephone. The above photograph shows Bishop Hlib during Pontifical Divine Liturgy at the Holy Dormition Lavra, Univ, Ukraine - the original and largest monastery of the Studite monks. Eis Polla Eti, Despota!