UGCC bishop plans first visit to North Dakota
The Most Rev. Benedict Aleksiychuk's first visit to North Dakota is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 3-4. A welcome for the bishop will start with the Divine Liturgy at St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Belfield at 9 a.m. on Saturday, with a brunch and visitation following liturgy.
At 4 p.m., a prayer service and dinner will take place at the Ukrainian Cultural Institute in Dickinson. Anyone who wants to attend the meal, please RSVP by Thursday, Nov. 1 by calling 701- 483-1486.
Sunday, Nov. 4, at 9:30 a.m., Divine Liturgy will be at St. Demetrius Ukrainian Catholic Church, Fairfield. All are welcome.
Pope Francis, in April 2017, appointed Aleksiychuk as bishop of the Eparchy of Saint Nicholas of Chicago to succeed the Most Rev. Richard Seminack, who died the previous year. The eparchy is a diocese of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and has jurisdiction over the entire western United States, most of the Midwest, Alaska and Hawaii. The jurisdiction includes about 46 parishes and mission stations. Previously, he was auxiliary bishop of Lviv, Ukraine, starting in 2010.
Aleksiychuk was born in 1968 in Borshchivka village, Kostopil District, Rivne region. In 1983 he began his studies at Rivne medical college, completing his degree in 1987 as a physician’s assistant. After graduation, he worked as an emergency medical technician at the ambulance station in Kostopil. From 1987 to 1989, he served in the military and worked as a physician’s assistant at a city clinic from 1989 to 1990, and later at a sanatorium.
From 1990 to 1993 he studied at the Drohobych Spiritual Seminary. He was ordained in 1992 and was appointed administrator at a parish in Bystrytsia. Simultaneously he served as an assistant priest at Holy Trinity Church in Drohobych. From 1992 to 1994 he also worked for the Patriarchal Catechetical Commission -- organizing mission work in eastern Ukraine.
In 1994 he worked on the restoration of the Monastery of Borys and Hlib in Polotsk, Belarus, while simultaneously serving at five Belarus Greek Catholic parishes. He was the spiritual father of Christian Youth Community in Minsk.
In 1996 he completed a master’s of theology degree at Lublin Catholic University, and was transferred to St. Catharine's, Canada, with the aim of founding a monastery there. He also served two parishes in the Toronto Eparchy. He returned to Ukraine in 1999, after being elected hegumen, which is similar to an abbot, of the Holy Dormition Univ Lavra, a monastery.
He continued his theological studies at Lublin Catholic University, completing his licentiate degree in 2006, and in 2008, defended his philosophical doctorate thesis. From 2004 to 2012, he served on a commission regarding monasticism and headed a liturgical council. In 2016 he obtained a master's degree in business administration at Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv.
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