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How can we fail to recall the far-sighted and solid pastoral activity of the Servant of God, Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytskyi, whose cause of Beatification is proceeding and whom we hope to see one day in the glory of the Saints? We must refer to his heroic apostolic activity if we are to understand the humanly inexplicable fruitfulness of the Greek-Catholic Church of Ukraine during the dark years of persecution.

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Postulator Comments on Beatification Process of Sheptytsky
26.09.2006, [18:16] // UGCC //

Kyiv � The recent session of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) reported that the beatification process for Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, head of the UGCC from 1901 to 1944, is moving forward in Rome. Fr. Roman Terekhovskyi of the UGCC�s Postulation Center, the vice-postulator for Metropolitan Sheptytsky�s cause, commented. ugcc.org.ua posted the news on 25 September 2006.

As the recent UGCC Synod of Bishops reported, Sheptytsky�s cause has gone to the Vatican�s Theological Commission. UGCC Bishop Michael Hrynchyshyn, head of the synod�s Committee on Beatification and Canonization, said that this is a great step towards beatifying Metropolitan Sheptytsky.

�The fact that the beatification cause of Servant of God Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky was recently passed for further work to the special Theological Commission of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome formally means that, after appropriate positive assessment of the status of the historical credibility and authenticity of the documentary materials gathered during the long-lasting beatification process (on the basis of archival documents and eyewitness testimonies), the cause itself has passed to the competency of those holding governing positions in the Roman Congregation for the Causes of Saints, who should in an appropropiate way assess also the quality of the facts gathered in this cause,� said Fr. Terekhovskyi. �This will be done so that official conclusions can with certainty be made regarding the correspondence of the facts introduced from the life and activities of Servant of God Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky by the objective criteria of the official acknowledge of extraordinary heroism in the virtues practiced by him.�

According to Fr. Terekhovskyi, after the commission confirms the fact of the metropolitan�s heroic virtues (de heroicitate virtutibus) throughout his life, his faith and service to God and neighbor, his official status will be designated �venerable,� which will make possible his recognition as a �blessed� of the Catholic Church.

Fr. Terekhovskyi added that a documented miraculous healing performed through the metropolitan�s intercession will then allow his beatification.

The beatification process for the metropolitan began in 1958.

Archbishop Assures Lviv Citizens of Impending Beatification
19.03.2008, [18:53] // UGCC //

Lviv� On 19 March 2008, The Ukrainian Catholic University held a press conference in Lviv in which Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Archbishop Ihor Vozniak assured the public that the beatification of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytskyi is approaching finalization. The archbishop disclosed that during the recent visit of UGCC bishops to the Vatican, representatives of the Congregation for Beatification informed them that the metropolitan�s beatification is virtually complete and requires only prayers.

However, Oksana Haiova, head of Religious Studies at the Lviv Central State Historical Archives, disavowed the idea that the factors influencing beatification are solely spiritual. In this light, she stressed the importance of the Lviv Gazette�s �Send a letter to the Pope� initiative in promoting active public interest to attracting attention to the metropolitan. At the same time, she assured the public that the Apostolic See does �not question [Sheptytski�s] sainthood.�