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Our Ukranian Priests in the Eparchy of Phoenix

Fr. Vasyl Mutka.jpg

Fr. Vasyl Mutka was born in Drohobych, Ukraine, and came of age in the “catacomb church,” when the Ukrainian Catholic Church was considered the largest illegal church in the world because of its being banned by the Soviet Union. Fr. Vasyl recalls celebrating Divine Liturgies at midnight and praying with hushed voices in order to avoid detection by Soviet controlled police and receiving severe punishments. After the collapse of Communism, the Catholic Church was legalized, came out of the shadows, and men could once again be openly ordained. Fr. Vasyl is currently the pastor at St. Irene in Portland Oregon 

Holy Spirit Byzantine Church
in
Potelych, Ukraine

Fr. Vasyl was ordained a priest in the Ukrainian Catholic Church on July 15, 2008. His first assignment was as pastor of Holy Spirit Byzantine Church in Potelych, Ukraine, which is the oldest wooden church in Ukraine, erected in 1502. Holy Spirit was closed under the Communists, but after Communism fell, Fr. Vasyl was the first priest to re-open the church.

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