Nil Lushchak O.F.M. (, born Yuriy Yuriyovych Lushchak, ; born May 22, 1973

Uzhhorod Uzhhorod (, ; , ; , ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Uzh, Uzh River in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistan ...

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

Ruthenian Catholic The Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, also known in the United States as the Byzantine Catholic Church, is a ''sui iuris'' (autonomous) Eastern Catholic particular church based in Eastern Europe and North America that is part of the worldwide ...

hierarch, who serves as an Apostolic Administrator of the Eparchy of Mukachevo. Previously served as Auxiliary Bishop of the same eparchy since 19 November 2012 until 20 July 2020.

Life

Born on 22 May 1973 in Uzhhorod, Ukrainian SSR, present day - Ukraine as Yuriy Lushchak. After primary and secondary schools and the military service according to conscription in the

Armed Forces of Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

he was student rates

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

in the Eparchial Seminary in

2 July 1996 was ordained a

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 ...

. Later served a variety of pastoral work, was originally vicar, then - the pastor. From 2004 to 2008, studied at the

Pontifical Urbaniana University The Pontifical Urban University, also called the ''Urbaniana'' after its names in both Latin and Italian, is a pontifical university that was under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The university's mission is to ...

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, ...

and where he received a licentiate's degree in philosophy. In 2009 he entered the mendicant

Order of Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; Post-nominal letters, postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a Mendicant orders, mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis ...

, where he took the religious name "Nil" in honour of Saint Nil of Grottaferrata and in 2010 has made temporal vows. November 19, 2012, the Pope

Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, his resignation on 28 Februar ...

appointed Fr. Nil

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 Flenucleta, Auxiliary

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the Eparchy of Mukachevo. In December 4, 2012 Elected Bishop Nil made his solemn profession in the Franciscan community. In addition to native Ukrainian, Lushchak can speak

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

References

External links

1973 births Clergy from Uzhhorod Bishops of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church Pontifical Urban University alumni Ukrainian Friars Minor Franciscan bishops Living people 20th-century Eastern Catholic clergy 21st-century Eastern Catholic bishops {{RuthenianCatholic-bishop-stub