Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytskyi beatification process

Lviv (RISU) — On 19 March 2008, The Ukrainian Catholic University held a press conference in Lviv in which Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Archbishop Ihor Vozniak assured the public that the beatification of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytskyi is approaching finalization. The archbishop disclosed that during the recent visit of UGCC bishops to the Vatican, representatives of the Congregation for Beatification informed them that the metropolitan’s beatification is virtually complete and requires only prayers.

However, Oksana Haiova, head of Religious Studies at the Lviv Central State Historical Archives, disavowed the idea that the factors influencing beatification are solely spiritual. In this light, she stressed the importance of the Lviv Gazette’s “Send a letter to the Pope” initiative in promoting active public interest to attracting attention to the metropolitan. At the same time, she assured the public that the Apostolic See does “not question [Sheptytski’s] sainthood.”