Bishop Petro Stasiuk of UGCC passes away

14.08.2025, 10:05

On August 13, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. local time in Winnipeg, Canada, Bishop Petro Stasiuk, the Bishop Emeritus of the Melbourne Eparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, passed away at the age of 83. He had dedicated 59 years to the priesthood and served as a bishop for 33 years. Bishop Petro died at the House of the Holy Family, which is cared for by the Sisters Servants.

This was reported by the UGCC Department for Information.

On March 1 of this year, during a pastoral visit to Winnipeg, Bishop Petro Stasiuk was visited by the Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav. Subsequently, on August 6, which is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, he was visited by Metropolitan Lawrence Huculak of Winnipeg and Auxiliary Bishop Andriy Rabiy of the Archdiocese of Winnipeg.

Biographical Information

Bishop Petro Stasiuk, CSsR, was born on July 16, 1943, near the Canadian town of Roblin, Manitoba, to a family of farmers who emigrated from the Ternopil region during the first wave of emigration.

After completing the 9th grade, he entered St. Volodymyr's College, a minor seminary of the Redemptorist Fathers, and graduated in 1960. That same year, he entered the Redemptorist novitiate, took his first monastic vows on August 28, 1962, and his perpetual vows on August 28, 1965. He received his theological education at St. Paul's University in Ottawa and studied French and Ukrainian at the universities of Ottawa and Tours. He was ordained a priest on July 2, 1967, by Archbishop and Metropolitan Maksym Hermaniuk, CSsR, of Winnipeg.

Bishop Stasiuk served as an assistant and parish priest in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Toronto. He also taught at St. Volodymyr's College and headed the institution from 1981 to 1993.

On December 16, 1992, Pope John Paul II appointed him as bishop for Ukrainian Greek Catholics in Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania. He was consecrated bishop on March 9, 1993, and enthroned on May 2, 1993, in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Melbourne. While in Australia, he founded the Ukrainian Youth for Christ movement, served as the head of the Patriarchal Catechetical Commission of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church from 2008 to 2018, and contributed to the creation of the Catechism of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, titled "Christ Is Our Passover." In recognition of his service, he was awarded the Order of Australia medal in 2009. On August 25, 2018, he became the chief chaplain of the Ukrainian Youth Association.

On January 15, 2020, Pope Francis accepted his resignation from the office of bishop upon his reaching the age of 75.

Tags: #Canada #Peter (Stasiuk)