Obituary of BISHOP MICHAEL HRYNCHYSHYN, C.Ss.R.

BISHOP MICHAEL HRYNCHYSHYN, CSSR. Most Rev. Michael Hrynchyshyn , CSSR., D.D., died on Monday, November 12, at the age of 83, only months after being officially retired as Apostolic Exarch for the Ukrainian Catholics of France, Benelux and Switzerland. He died at his home in Paris, where he was convalescing after surgery. Bishop Michael was born in Buchanan, Saskatchewan, on February 18, 1929, to John and Mary Hrynchyshyn. For his vocation he gave thanks to his parents, who prayed that one of their six sons would choose the priesthood. He entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (The Redemptorists) on July 27, 1945, and made his religious profession August 28, 1946. He was ordained a priest by Archbishop Maxim Hermaniuk in Toronto on May 25, 1952. His provincial superior then sent him to Rome for further studies. He received a baccalaureate degree (1953), a license degree (1954) and a doctorate in oriental church study (1955). Father Michael served in a number of Redemptorist parishes: Saskatoon, Sk. (1956-57; 65-66; 81-82), Meadowvale, Ont. (57-61), Winnipeg (62-65; 66-67), and Newark, N.J. (67-72). He was also rector of the Metropolitan Sheptytsky Institute in Saskatoon in 1956-57 and gave many missions and retreats in his pastoral years. He was elected provincial superior of the Yorkton Province of Redemptorists 1972-81. November 27, 1982, he was appointed to succeed Bishop Vladimir Malanchuk, CSSR., as apostolic exarch for the Ukrainian Catholics of France, Benelux and Switzerland; and was consecrated on January 30, 1983, at the Church of St. Sophia in Rome by His Beatitude Josyf Slipyj, Metropolitan Maxim Hermaniuk and Metropolitan Stephen Sulyk. Later he was appointed also to be Apostolic Administrator for the Ukrainian Catholics of Great Britain, until he was succeeded there by Bishop Michael Kuchmiak, CSSR., in 1989. Bishop Michael was justly proud of several projects he undertook in his time as both priest and bishop. In 1978 he organized a ten-year period of preparation for the Ukrainian Millennium of Christianity. This was adopted for the entire Ukrainian Catholic church by the hierarchy the following year and he was named the secretary-general for the celebration of the Millennium of Ukrainian Christianity Jubilee in Rome, 1988. He also was chosen to be the secretary of the Ukrainian Catholic Synod after his consecration, until the Synod's return to Lviv, but remained on the permanent council for several more terms. After Pope John-Paul II in 1994 established a central committee for the Year 2000 Jubilee, and named him to head the Commission for New Martyrs, Bishop Michael opened a "two-fold postulator's bureau" in Lviv. With tireless effortson the bishop's part, the bureau prepared the documentation for the 27 martyrs that were proclaimed Blessed by the Pope on his visit to Ukraine in 2001. The other bureau project, Metropolitan Sheptytsky's cause for beatification, remained "unfulfilled", but Bishop Michael never doubted that the day would come when the Servant of God Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky would be proclaimed a saint. This last endeavor was the bishop's life work, since he was named postulator of the Metropolitan's cause for beatification in 1957, and it remained his passionate cause throughout his life. Bishop Michael's resignation was accepted on July 21. 2012; his successor was also appointed: Very Rev. Dr. Borys Gudziak, the rector of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. On Friday, November 16, Funeral Prayers were celebrated in Paris. Final Funeral Services will be held on Friday, November 23, 10:00 a.m. at St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church, 250 Jefferson Ave. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Bishop Velychkovsky Martyr's Shrine will be gratefully accepted at St. Joseph's. Grant him, O Lord eternal rest! "VICHNAYA PAMYAT’"