Bishop Leon Malyi (; ; born 17 August 1958 in

Bar, Vinnytsia Oblast Bar ( ; ; ) is a city located on the Riv River in Vinnytsia Oblast, central Ukraine. It is located in the historic region of Podolia. It served as the administrative center of the former Bar Raion until 2020. The city's estimated population is 1 ...

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

) is a Ukrainian

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

prelate, the Titular Bishop of Tabunia and

Auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of the Archdiocese of Lviv since 4 May 2002.

Life

Leon Malyi was born in the family of Yan and Henovefa (née Hutsal) Malyi in the

Podolia Podolia or Podillia is a historic region in Eastern Europe located in the west-central and southwestern parts of Ukraine and northeastern Moldova (i.e. northern Transnistria). Podolia is bordered by the Dniester River and Boh River. It features ...

. After graduation of the school education, continued to study at the Lviv cinema college. In the same time he joined the clandestine Roman Catholic Theological Seminary under the supervision of Father Henrik Mosing: he was ordained as

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

on June 7, 1984, by clandestine Bishop Jan Cienski (single Roman Catholic bishop in the territory of Ukraine) after graduation of the theological studies. During 1984–1990 he worked as a clandestine priest in the Podolia region and after the

Dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

began to work openly until 1995. Fr. Malyi continued to study in the

Pontifical University of the Holy Cross Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (, ) is a Roman Catholic university under the Curial Congregation for Catholic Education, now entrusted to the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, or more commonly called Opus Dei. It was started i ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

with

Doctor of Sacred Theology The Doctor of Sacred Theology (, abbreviated STD), also sometimes known as Professor of Sacred Theology (, abbreviated STP), is the final theological degree in the pontifical university system of the Catholic Church, being the ecclesiastical equ ...

degree (1995–2000). He returned to Ukraine in 2000 and began to work as a Prefect in the Major Roman Catholic Theological Seminary in Lviv (2000–2002). On May 4, 2002, he was appointed by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

as the second

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of the Archdiocese of Lviv, Ukraine, and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Tabunia. On June 20, 2002, he was consecrated as bishop by Metropolitan Archbishop Marian Cardinal Jaworski and other prelates of the Roman Catholic Church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malyi, Leon 1958 births Living people People from Bar, Ukraine Ukrainian people of Polish descent Pontifical University of the Holy Cross alumni 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States