On Wednesday, July 12, 2023, the press service of the Vatican announced that His Holiness Pope Francis has approved the decision of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC to elect Father Petro Holiney as an auxiliary bishop of the Eparchy of Kolomyia of the UGCC. He has been given the titular see of Abritus.
This was reported by the Information Department of the UGCC.
Biographical Note
Bishop-elect Petro Holiney was born on July 12, 1973, in the village of Dobrotiv in the Ivano-Frankivsk region of Ukraine.
From 1991 to 1996, he studied at the Ivano-Frankivsk Theological and Catechetical Institute and received a degree in theology and qualification as a religious education teacher.
After his diaconal ordination on April 9, 1992, he was responsible for the restoration of Greek-Catholic parishes in the Chernivtsi region and served as a pastoral minister in the Delyatyn parish from 1996 to 1998.
From 1997 to 2001, he studied at the Prykarpattia State University and obtained a degree in historical sciences.
After his priestly ordination on November 29, 1998, he served as a pastor of the Delyatyn parish and later was responsible for youth ministry in the Yaremche deanery (2000-2014), a history teacher in a state school in Delyatyn (2003-2016), and dean of the Yaremche deanery (2014-2016).
From 2005 to 2007, he pursued theological studies at the Pontifical Theological Institute in Warsaw, Poland, where he obtained a master's degree in theology in 2010. In 2016, he continued his studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome and received a doctorate in Church history in 2020.
Since December 3, 2021, he has served as the chancellor of the Apostolic Exarchate for Ukrainian Byzantine Catholics in Italy. He has also served as a pastor of the Ukrainian parish of Saints Sergius and Bacchus in Rome.
In addition to Ukrainian, he is fluent in Polish, Italian, and Russian.