Draped in Ukrainian flags, Redemptorist Fathers (left to right) Bohdan Geleta and Ivan Levytsky were two of the ten prisoners released on June 28, after having been held in Russian captivity for more than 19 months. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised Pope Francis, as well as Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, the Pope’s peace envoy in Ukraine, and Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, Apostolic Nuncio in Ukraine (right), for their roles in mediating the repatriation. The official portal of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church released information stating that Fr. Ivan Levytskyi and Fr. Bohdan Gelet, had been arrested in occupied Berdiansk on 16 November 2022.

On behalf of His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Bishop Andriy Khimyak, Auxiliary Bishop of the Kyiv Archeparchy, and Father Oleksa Petriv, Head of the Department of External Relations of the UGCC in Ukraine, met Fathers Ivan and Bohdan in prison and conveyed them the words of great joy of the Head of the Church and all the faithful who constantly prayed for this day to come.

His Beatitude Sviatoslav, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Churche, expressed his sincere gratitude to the Apostolic See for the rescue of the UGCC priests. He sent special words of gratitude to Pope Francis, Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the entire Vatican diplomatic corps. Special thanks for their mediation were expressed to Cardinal Mateo Zuppa and Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine. Each of them made an invaluable personal contribution to making this event a reality.

Since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, priests Ivan Levytskyi and Bohdan Geleta had chosen to remain with their people in the temporarily occupied territories. They served both the Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic communities, giving a light of hope to people under occupation. They were arrested, then some military items were planted in the church and accused of illegal possession of weapons. There were reports that they were being tortured mercilessly to extract a confession to a crime they had not committed.

For some time, there was no information about the prisoners. Only in May, His Beatitude Sviatoslav received the news that Fathers Ivan and Bohdan were alive and there was hope for their release. —reprinted from Redemptorists Scala News

We wish to thank all those from our parishes and retreat centers and from around the world who have prayed steadfastly for Fr. Ivan Levytskyi and Fr. Bohdan Geleta’s release.