Welcome Bp. Venedykt!
His Excellency Msgr. Venedykt (Valery) Aleksiychuk, M.S.U. has been appointed as the Bishop of the Eparchy of Saint Nicholas of Chicago for Ukrainians.
Active in children’s and youth ministry, monastic spirituality and reform, liturgy, psychology and spirituality, His Excellency has a breadth of experience spanning parochial, consultative, administrative, and monastic leadership. He is sure to be a blessing to our eparchy and to our nation.
У четвер, 20 квітня 2017 року, у Ватикані повідомлено про те, що Папа Франциск поблагословив рішення Синоду Єпископів УГКЦ про призначення дотеперішнього Єпископа-помічника Львівської архиєпархії владику Венедикта (Алексійчука) Правлячим єпископом єпархії Святого Миколая УГКЦ з осідком у Чикаґо, США, перенісши його з титулярного осідку Германіціяни.
Born on 16 January 1968 in the village of Borshchivka in the region of Rivne, Ukraine, the bishop began his post-secondary studies at the Rivne Medical College, completing his degree in 1987 as a Physician’s Assistant. After graduation, he worked as an Emergency Medical Technician at the ambulance station in Kostopil. From 1987 to 1989, he served in the military. Afterwards, he worked as a Physician’s Assistant, initially at a city clinic and later at a sanatorium in the city of Truskavets.
After attending the major seminary of Drohobych from 1990-1993, he was ordained a deacon by His Beatitude Phylymon (Kurchaba) on October 9, 1991 and a priest by His Beatitude Myroslav-Ivan (Lyubachivskyi) on 29 March 1992. A year later, on 13 May 1993, he joined the Univ Holy Dormition Lavra of the Studite Order–the only lavra (monastic hermitage) of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church. He accepted tonsure on 13 October 1993 and received the little schema on 31 December 1995.
In 1996, he completed a Masters of Theology degree at Lublin Catholic University with a thesis on the topic of “Christian spirituality according to St. John of Kronstadt.” Later that year, he was transferred to St. Catharine’s in Canada with the aim of founding a monastery there. At the time, he also served at the parishes of Grimsby and Beamsville for the Toronto Eparchy of the UGCC. He returned to Ukraine in April 1999 after being elected hegumen of the Univ Holy Dormition Lavra. In May 2000, he was re-elected hegumen and he was then elected for a third term in May 2005.
He went on to continue his theological studies at Lublin Catholic University with a licentiate degree in 2006 and a 2008 Doctorate of Philosophy with a thesis on “The Superior as a Spiritual Father: Investigation in the light of the works of Saint Theodore the Studite.”
Picking up the thread of his work as a Physician’s Assistant, he focused his studies on psychology from 2008-2012, completing a course of Practical Psychology at the European School of Correspondential Education (Kharkiv), Propaedeutics of Mental Disorders with the Ukrainian Community of Psychiatrists, and Pedagogy and Psychology at the Ignatianum Academy in Krakow, Poland.
All this was accomplished while he:
- was an assistant priest at Holy Trinity Church in Drohobych,
- was responsible for children’s ministry within the Drohobych deanery,
- worked for the Patriarchal Catechetical Commission where he was responsible for the organization of mission work in Eastern Ukraine,
- was a member of the Patriarchal Commission of Monasticism,
- was the administrator of St. Nicholas parish in Peremyshlyany,
- worked on the renewal of monastic life and the restoration of the Monastery of Borys and Hlib in Polotsk (Belarus) while simultaneously serving at the parishes in Polotsk, Vitebsk, Gomel, Mogilev, and Brest (Belarusian Greek Catholic Church),
- was the spiritual father of the Christian Youth Community in Minsk,
- was the head of the Secretariat of the UGCC Council of Monasticism,
- was the head of the UGCC liturgical council on preparing texts of divine services,
- was the head of the Council of Higher Superiors of Monasteries of the UGCC,
- was a member of the Secretariat of the Patriarchal Sobor,
- was the head of staff of the Lviv Archeparchy Curia,
- was the head of the Patriarchal Liturgical Commission of the UGCC,
- was the chair of the Synodal Committee on Liturgical Issues,
- and wrote four books: A Superior as A Spiritual Father, Spiritual Instructions, Be Saints, and Borshchivka – A Pearl of Polesia.
His episcopal ordination was held on 5 September 2010 at St. George’s Cathedral in Lviv with Archbishop Ihor (Voznyak), the Metropolitan of Lviv, as the main consecrator and Bishop Yulian (Voronovskyi) of Sambir-Drohobych and Bishop Pavlo (Chomytskyi) of Stamford as the co-consecrators. On 3 August 2010, His Beatitude Lyubomyr (Husar), Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Galicia, by general consent of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, appointed hieromonk Venedykt (Aleksiychuk) the bishop-auxiliary of Lviv Archeparchy with a titular see in Germaniciana.
From 2014-2016, the bishop studied in the Key Executive MBA Program at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv and obtained a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. During this time, he also published two books (Reflections on the Liturgical Reading of the Gospel and Reflections on the Liturgical Reading of the Apostles), was awarded the Cross of Military Chaplain, and named a senator of the Ukrainian Catholic University.
On 20 April 2017, the synod of bishops’ election was confirmed by Pope Francis, appointing him Bishop of the Eparchy of Saint Nicholas of Chicago of the Ukrainians in the United States of America. We welcome him warmly to the eparchy!
Довідка про єпархію. Єпархія святого Миколая в Чикаґо входить до Філадельфійської митрополії та є її найбільшою частиною з огляду на територію, охоплюючи території північних, центральних та західних штатів країни. Вона була заснована 1961 року та згідно з даними «Annuario Pontificio 2017», станом на минулий рік нараховувала приблизно 50 парафій, надаючи духовну опіку понад 10 тисячам вірних. Цей осідок став вакантним 16 серпня 2016 року після відходу до вічності четвертого Єпарха Чиказького владики Річарда (Семінака).