Severian Stefan Baranyk (; 18 July 1889 - ) was a Ukrainian Greek Catholic

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 ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

. Baranyk was born in Uhnów in Austrian Galicia (modern-day Uhniv,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

). He entered the monastery of the Order of St Basil the Great in Krekhiv in 1904. On 16 May, he took his first monastic vows and, on 24 September 1910, he took his perpetual vows. He was ordained to the priesthood on 14 February 1915. Baranyk was known for his preaching, and his life was noted for his special kindness to youth and orphans. In 1932, he was made the

prior The term prior may refer to: * Prior (ecclesiastical), the head of a priory (monastery) * Prior convictions, the life history and previous convictions of a suspect or defendant in a criminal case * Prior probability, in Bayesian statistics * Prio ...

(hegumen) of the Basilian monastery in

Drohobych Drohobych ( ; ; ) is a city in the south of Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Drohobych Raion and hosts the administration of Drohobych urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. In 1939–1941 and 1944–1959 it w ...

. On 26 June 1941, the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

arrested him. He was taken to Drohobych prison and never seen alive again. After the

Soviets The Soviet people () were the citizens and nationals of the Soviet Union. This demonym was presented in the ideology of the country as the "new historical unity of peoples of different nationalities" (). Nationality policy in the Soviet Union ...

withdrew from the city his mutilated body was found in the prison with signs of torture, including cross-shaped knife slashes across his chest. He was

beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...

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 ...

on 27 June 2001. Yasyf Lastoviak, in a testimony, recounted finding Stefan Baranyk's corpse:

References

*
Biographies of twenty five Greek-Catholic Servants of God
' at the website of the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

*
Beatification of the Servants of God on June 27, 2001
' at the website of the

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is a Major archiepiscopal church, major archiepiscopal ''sui iuris'' ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic church that is based in Ukraine. As a particular church of the Cathol ...

*
Basilian Martyrs and Confessors
'. St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church, Winnipeg Canada. *Francisco Radecki. ''Tumultuous Times: The Twenty General Councils of the Catholic Church and Vatican II and Its Aftermath''. St. Joseph's Media, 2004. {{DEFAULTSORT:Baranyk, Severian 1889 births 1941 deaths Catholics executed by the Soviet Union Members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Ukrainian beatified people Order of Saint Basil the Great Ukrainian people executed by the Soviet Union Beatifications by Pope John Paul II