Pope Francis accepts the abdication of RCC Bishop Bronislaw Bernacki
On Tuesday, February 18, 2020, Vatican officials reported that Pope Francis had accepted the abdication of Bishop Bronislaw Bernacki of the government of the Ordinary Bishop of the Diocese of Odessa-Simferopol of the RCC in Ukraine. His successor appointed Bishop Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk, the former Coadjutor of the mentioned diocese. This is reported by Vatican Radio.
Formed on May 4, 2002, the Diocese of Odessa-Simferopol covers the territory of the Crimea, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Kirovohrad regions. From the moment of its foundation until now, it was headed by Bishop Bronislaw Bernacki, who was elected at the end of 2018 as the President of the Conference of Roman Catholic bishops of Ukraine. In September last year, the Bishop turned 75 years old.
The new Ordinary Bishop of Odessa-Simferopol Stanislav Shirokoradyuk, who comes from the Order of the Lesser Brothers, has been performing episcopal ministry for more than a quarter of a century. On November 26, 1994, Pope John Paul II appointed him auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Zhytomyr (from 1998 – Kyiv-Zhytomyr), and on January 6, 1995, ordained him in St. Peter's Basilica.
In 2012-2014, Bishop Stanislav also administered the Diocese of Lutsk until he was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Kharkiv-Zaporizhia on April 12, 2014. He remained the administrator of this diocese after February 2, 2019. Pope Francis appointed him Bishop-coadjutor with special powers of the the Diocese of Odessa-Simferopol. This continued until the appointment of Pavlo Honcharuk as the new Bishop of Kharkiv-Zaporizhia, which was announced on January 6, 2020, and the episcopal consecration and introduction to the government took place on February 14.
