On Tuesday, September 10, the Vatican officials announced that Pope Francis had blessed the decision of the UGCC Synod to elect Fr Ivan Kulyk, rector of the parish of Sts Sergius and Bacchus in Rome, as the eparch of the UGCC in Kamyanets-Podilsky.
On Tuesday, September 10, the Vatican officials announced that Pope Francis had blessed the decision of the UGCC Synod to elect Fr Ivan Kulyk, rector of the parish of Sts Sergius and Bacchus in Rome, as the eparch of the UGCC in Kamyanets-Podilsky.
It is reported by Vatican Radio.
Bishop nominee Ivan Kulyk was born on March 16, 1979, in Perevoloka, Ternopil region. He enrolled in Ternopil Higher Theological Seminary to start his theological education and graduated from Lublin Seminary in Poland, following which, on May 8, 2005, he was ordained to the priesthood (as a presbyter).
From 2005 to 2009, Fr Ivan studied at the Pontifical Patristic Institute ‘Augustinianum’, having obtained Licentiate in Patristics. During his studies, he provided pastoral care in Ukrainian Greek Catholic communities in different cities of Italy. In 2009, he was appointed Administrator of the Ukrainian parish of Sts Sergius and Bacchus in Rome, to which he was appointed as rector in 2013.
Diocese of Kamyanets-Podilsky
On December 11, 2015, the Vatican reported that His Holiness blessed the decision of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC to establish the Diocese of Kamyanets-Podilsky with its center in the city of Khmelnytskyi, by separating it from the territory of the Archeparchy of Ternopil-Zboriv and subordinating it to this Metropolitan center. Prior to the appointment of the eparch, the administrator of this diocese was the Metropolitan of Ternopil-Zboriv, Archbishop Vasily Semenyuk.
According to the information of website the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, the Diocese embraces Khmelnytsky region. The name of the diocese comes from Kamyanets-Podilsky, however, the Bishop's Throne is located in Khmelnytskyi. The diocese borders on the Diocese of Chernivtsi in the South, the Diocese of Buchach and the Archdiocese of Ternopil-Zboriv in the West, the Exarchate of Lutsk in the North and the Archdiocese of Kyiv in the East. The diocese is divided into Khmelnytskyi and Kamyanets-Podilsky protopresbyter regions.