Josyf Slipyj's father, Joannes (Ivan) Slipyj, was born 17 February 1892 in Zazdrist (Polish: Zazdrość) into a family of local Ukrainian farmers. His mother was Anastasia Dychkovska (born 27 January 1850), the daughter of Roman Dychkovski and Barbara Janisiewicz, also from Zazdrist. Both clans were well rooted in the village and can be traced there as far back as existing records allow. Interestingly, but not uncommon, one of Cardinal Josyf's great grandfathers, Adalberti Slominski, was of the Roman Catholic (Latin) rite. Cardinal Slipyj's older sister, Francisca, was also baptized in the Latin rite by Rev. Martinus Serwacki on 17 February 1875. At the time the family was living at house #75, Zazdrist.
After a short pastoral assignment, in 1922 Slipyi became a professor of dogmatic theology at the Lviv Holy Spirit Seminary. In 1926 he became the rector of the seminary and actively participated in its development. In 1923 he established the Theological Academic Society, for which he wrote the articles of association and enrolled scholars. In the same year, he became an editor of the quarterly Bohosloviia (Богословія, Theology). On 14 April 1929 Slipyi became the first rector of the Lviv Theological Academy (the predecessor to the Ukrainian Catholic University).
In 1926, Slipyj became a member of the supervisory board of the Lviv National Museum, and in 1931 Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian Catholic Union. Due to his scholarly merits and active development of Ukrainian cultural and religious life, Slipyi became a member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. At this time he made numerous research trips to Western Europe, Holy Land, took part in union congresses in Velegrad, Prague, Pinsk and 1936 he organized a union congress in Lviv.
Metropolitan Andrey reorganized the Eastern Catholic hierarchy within the Soviet Union, and on 9 October 1939, he named Slipyj the Ukrainian Catholic Apostolic Exarch of Great Ukraine. He did this on his own authority because there was limited contact with the Holy See, and it was not until December 1941 that he received a letter from the Vatican recognizing his appointments for the Soviet territory.[2]
On 30 June 1941, Josyf Slipyj supported the Act of Declaration of Ukrainian State. Slipyj became the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on 1 November 1944, following Sheptytsky's death.
After Soviet troops captured Lviv, Slipyj was arrested along with other bishops in 1945 by the NKVD, convicted to penal servitude, allegedly for collaboration with the Nazi regime. This was the first step in the planned liquidation of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church by Soviet authorities.[3][4][5] After being jailed in Lviv, Kyiv, and Moscow, he was sentenced by a Soviet court to eight years of hard labor in the SiberianGulag.
At this time Soviet authorities forcibly convened an assembly of 216 priests, and on 9 March 1946 and the following day, the so-called "Synod of Lviv" was held in St. George's Cathedral. The Union of Brest, the council at which the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church formally entered into ecclesiastic communion with the Holy See, was revoked. The Church was forcibly "rejoined" to the Russian Orthodox Church.
Slipyj rejected any offers of conversion into Orthodoxy and was sentenced serially in 1953, 1957, 1962, thus being imprisoned for a total of 18 years in camps in Siberia and Mordovia (Dubravlag in Potma). Slipyj spent five years in Maklakovo (Krasnoyarsk region), where he wrote a multi-volume history of the Catholic Church in Ukraine.[6]
According to Mykola Posivnych, Josyf Slipyj saw his imprisonment years as lost years. He was devastated since the best years of his life in terms of productivity, Slipyj had to spend among criminals, investigators, and jailers. Numerous times he went through illnesses as well as having his legs and hands broken and frostbitten.
Slipyj's prison writings managed to circulate. In 1957 Pope Pius XII sent him a congratulatory letter on the 40th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. It was confiscated, and also on account of his circulating writings, he was sentenced to seven more years in prison.
For the first time in 17 years, the splendidly robed archbishop fully celebrated the Eucharist in the high Slavonic rite. Willebrands, Arrighi and I witnessed the tears of the archbishop, the tears of the monks and the tears of each other.
Thomas F. Stransky, Vatican II: Recollections of an Insider[7][8]
Beginning in 1963 many Ukrainian bishops lobbied for Slipyj to be named patriarch, but Pope Paul VI refused, instead creating the new office of major archbishop and appointing Slipyj as its first incumbent on 23 December 1963.[9]
On 25 January 1965 Pope Paul VI named Slipyj a cardinal and appointed him Cardinal-Priest of Sant'Atanasio.[10][11] At the time he was the 4th cardinal in Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church history. He was given a red koukoulion at the consistory[12] as well as a galero.[13]
Because he was major archbishop (not patriarch), he was cardinal priest instead of being in the then-new rank of cardinal patriarch. His successors in Ukraine, whether cardinals or not, have used the title of major archbishop.
He did not participate in the 1978 papal conclaves in August and October, being past the age of 80 then.
On the first occasion of an audience with Pope John Paul II, the Pope greeted Cardinal Slipyj first, which was contrary to protocol.
Reorganization of UGCC life
From the start of his arrival in Rome the Major Archbishop strove to organize the self-management of the local Ukrainian Catholic Church, headed by the patriarch. This idea was not supported by the Apostolic See.
In 1968, 1970, 1973 and 1976 Cardinal Slipyj visited countries in Europe, America, Asia and Australia in order to strengthen the ties with the Ukrainian diaspora overseas, and to reinvigorate the religious life of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church abroad. During these years he also took part in three international Eucharistic Congresses (Bombay, Bogota, Melbourne).
In 1977, Slipyj consecrated Ivan Choma, Stefan Czmil and Lubomyr Husar as bishops without approval of the pope. These consecrations caused much annoyance to the Roman Curia as episcopal consecrations without papal permission were considered illicit in the Canon Law in force at the time.[14][15]
As a Major Archbishop with Patriarchal rights, Slipyj gathered a number of synods of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The most significant ones took place in 1969, 1971 and 1973. During the last Synod, the constitution of the UGCC patriarchal arrangement was adopted. Slipyj published his ordinances in "Evangelicum of the Major Archbishop of the Byzantine-Ukrainian rite" starting from 1964.
In Rome, he bought and rebuilt church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus for Ukrainian Catholics. On the territory of church both museum and hostel were founded. In 1967–1968, the church of Santa Sofia on Via Boccea was built in Rome at his orders.
In 1960 he revitalized the Ukrainian Theological Scientific Society in exile and restored the publishing of "Bohoslovia" (Theology) in 1963 and the journal "Dzvony" (Дзвони, Bells) in 1976.
In 1963 Slipyj organized the Ukrainian Catholic University of St. Clement with an academic publishing house.
Death and burial
Although Slipyj was banned from entering Ukraine by the leaders of the USSR, including Nikita Khrushchev, nevertheless he refused to give up his Soviet passport.
He died in Rome on 7 September 1984.[16][17] His body lay in state at the church of Santa Sofia on Via Boccea; Pope John Paul II visited to pay his respects.[18] After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, his relics were returned to St. George's Cathedral in Lviv, and were reburied there on 27–29 August 1992.[19]
His cause for canonisation has been introduced at Rome.
Intellectual interests
In his research work he concentrated on approximating the scholasticism of Saint Thomas Aquinas to the requirements of Eastern Theology. Slipyj wrote a number of dogmatic works on the importance of the Holy Trinity, the origin of the Holy Spirit and Holy Sacraments, among which are:
Die Trinitatslehre des byzantinischen Patriarchen Photios, 1921
De principo spirationis in SS. Trinitate, 1926
On the Holy Sacrament, 1953
Die Auffassung des Lebens nach dem Evangelium und I.Briefe des Hl. Johannes, 1965
He also covered historical and ecumenical topics.
In 1968-1976 all of Josyf Slipyj's works were gathered and published as a work of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Rome (Volume I-VIII) with the title Opera omnia Kyr Josephi (Slipyj – Kobernyckyj – Dyčkovskyj) Archiepiscopi Maioris et Cardinalis / Твори кир Йосифа Верховного архиєпископа і кардинала (Universitas Catholica Ucrainorum Sancti Clementis Papae).
Honors, commemoration and monuments
Honors
Honorable member of Shevchenko Scientific Society (1964)
Three other plaques near the entrance at Sts. Volodymyr and Olha commemorate Josyf Slipyj. Two are about his 1973 and 1976 visits to the church,[21][22] and a third is about his consecration of the new church during the archbishops' synod in Rome in 1971.[23]
In honor of Josyf Slipyj’s 100th birthday, a monument (1992) and a commemorative bust (1994) were installed in his home village Zazdrist.
In 2004 a monument dedicated to Slipyj was installed in front of the UGCC Cathedral in Ternopil. On the opening day His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar unveiled and blessed the monument.
The bas-relief with commemorative tablet was installed on the side wall of the Lviv Central Post Office on Copernicus Street in Lviv.
A commemorative tablet was installed in 2005 in Kharkiv. In 2010 it was dismantled on the order of the local council, only to be re-installed in 2011.
Museums
A museum dedicated to Josyf Slipyj was opened on the premises of Lviv Theological Academy (now UCU) in 1997.
Patriarch Josyf Slipyj "Hometown" memorial museum complex was opened in 1998 in the place of his birth, the village Zazdrist.
Institutions
Both Ternopil Seminary in the town of Velyka Berezovytsia and Ternopil municipal Collegium were named after Patriarch Josyf Slipyj.
A number of Ukrainian cities' streets hold the name of Patriarch Josyf Slipyj (Lviv, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kolomyia).
Commemorative events
The year 2002 was dedicated by the UGCC to the commemoration of the 110th anniversary of Josyf Slipyj birth. On this occasion in July a pilgrimage to Zarvanytsia took place, with pilgrims coming from various parts of Ukraine, Canada, the US, altogether more than 200.000.
On 22 March 2012, the Ukrainian parliament issued an order to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Josyf Slipyj’s birth. The parliament suggested that the government establish an organizational committee that would develop a program of events to honor the anniversary on the state-wide level. The parliament also proposed to republish Josyf Slipyj’s works, organize a conference in Kyiv on the topic "Patriarch Josyf Slipyj’s role in Ukrainian state creation and the formation of national identity of Ukrainian people", and initiate measures to preserve and restore objects related to Slipyj activities. The National Bank of Ukraine was ordered to issue a commemorative coin from the series "Prominent Ukrainians" with Slipyj’s depiction. The Ukrainian Postal Service "Ukrposhta" was ordered to print envelopes and postage stamps with Slipyj’s portrait.
To commemorate the 125th anniversary of birth of Major Archbishop of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and long-sentenced political prisoner of Soviet concentration camps, Lviv regional council dedicated the year 2017 to Josyf Slipyj.
The Shoes of the Fisherman
It seems likely that Slipyj's life story was known to the Australian writer Morris West, who used it in his 1963 novel The Shoes of the Fisherman. West's protagonist is Kiril Pavlovich Lakota, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Lviv, who is freed by the Soviet Premier after 17 years in a Siberian labor camp. He is sent to Rome, where an elderly pope makes him a cardinal. The Pontiff dies, and Lakota finds himself elected Pope, taking the name Kiril I (a rare modern use of a baptismal name as a papal name).
Despite the similarities, it is not clear to what extent West used Slipyj or Bishop Hryhorij Lakota (who died in 1950 in the gulag) as a particular model for his character. The book begins with a disclaimer: "This is a book set in a fictional time, peopled with fictional characters, and no reference is intended to any living person, whether in the Church or out of it". According to the publisher, The Shoes of the Fisherman was written between March 1961 and August 1962,[24] which is before Slipyj's release.
Hollywood's film version appeared in 1968, starring Anthony Quinn as Lakota/Kiril I and Laurence Olivier as the (fictional) USSR Premier Piotr Ilyich Kamenev (and Lakota's jailer). It was nominated for two Academy Awards.
Some today regard The Shoes of the Fisherman as prophetic because it preceded by 15 years the election of Karol Józef Wojtyła as Pope John Paul II, the first Slavic pope as well as one from a Communist nation, noting even the Kiril/Karol similarity of names.
In 2019 the novel was published in Ukrainian with illustrations using Slipyj's likeness to depict Lakota/Pope Kiril.[25][26]
^Parfentyev, Pavel (2007). "Слуга Божий Митрополит Андрей Шептицкий и русский Экзархат католиков славяно-византийской традиции" [Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky and the Russian Exarchate of Catholics of the Slavic-Byzantine tradition]. Ecerkva.com (in Russian). Retrieved 8 February 2025.
^Bociurkiw, B.R., The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Soviet State (1939–1950). CIUS Press, 1996.
^Pelikan, Jaroslav, Confessor Between East and West. W.B. Eerdmans Publishing. 1990.
^"Religious Information Service of Ukraine: Patriarch Josyf Slipiy". Archived from the original on 20 April 2005. Retrieved 3 October 2008.
^To the Light of Resurrection through the Thorns of Catacombs: The Underground Activity and Reemergence of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Lviv, Ukrainian Catholic University Press, 2014, p.80.
^Bordeianu, Radu (March 2018). "Orthodox Observers at the Second Vatican Council and Intra-Orthodox Dynamics" (PDF). Theological Studies. 79 (1): 86–106. doi:10.1177/0040563917744818. S2CID 171711029. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
^Stransky, Thomas F. "Vatican II: Recollections of an Insider". Georgetown University. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
^"Josyf Ivanovycè Cardinal Slipyj (Slipiy)". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
^Cardinal Title S. Atanasio GCatholic.org
^"Ukrainian J. Slipyj becomes a cardinal Jan 25, 1965 Vatican historic home movie". Youtube. Ed Morton. 7 June 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
^Sonnen, John Paul (14 April 2013). "What the Koukoulion Looks Like". Orbis Catholicus Secundus. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
^МЕЛЬНИК, Ігор (25 January 2015). "Йосиф Сліпий – Кардинал і Патріарх". Збруч (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 22 July 2024.
^Apostolische Nachfolge: Ukraine. Archived 14 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine German site of CSSp Province
^"Can. 2370". Codex iuris canonici (1917). IntraText. Retrieved 3 March 2022. Can. 2370. Episcopus aliquem consecrans in Episcopum, Episcopi vel, loco Episcoporum, presbyteri assistentes, et qui consecrationem recipit sine apostolico mandato contra praescriptum can. 953, ipso iure suspensi sunt, donec Sedes Apostolica eos dispensaverit.
^"Josyf Cardinal Slipyj is Dead; Soviet Prisoner for 18 Years". The New York Times. 8 September 1984. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
^The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1985. New York: Newspaper Enterprise Association, Inc. 1984. p. 34. ISBN0-911818-71-5.
^"Іван Павло ІІ біля тіла Патріарха Йосифа". Youtube. Львівська Архиєпархія УГКЦ. 20 April 2011. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
^"Перепоховання Патріарха Йосифа Сліпого, Львів 1992 р. Історичне відео". Youtube. Zhyve TV. 27 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
^"Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church Consecration Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
^Plokhy, Serhii (1995). "Between Moscow and Rome: Struggle for the Greek Catholic Patriarchate in Ukraine". Journal of Church and State. 37 (4): 849–867. doi:10.1093/jcs/37.4.849.
^Ihor Bloshchynskyy. "«Черевики рибалки» – роман про папу-українця". St. Sophia Religious Association Of Ukrainian Catholics, U.S.A. (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 22 July 2024.
^Iryna Korchuk. "The Shoes of the Fisherman. Book illustrations". Behance. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
Further reading
Letter of His Holiness Pope John Paul II to Josyf Cardinal Slipyj on the occasion of the Announcement of the millennium of Christianity in the Ukraine (Harvard Ukrainian Studies Fund)
His Beatitude, Josyf Cardinal Slipyj, Confessor of the Faith, Patriarch of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, 17. 2. 1892-7. 9. 1984 (London: Ukrainian Central Information Service, 1984)
John M. Freishyn Chirovsky, Patriarch Josyf (Slipyj) the Confessor and His Ecclesiological Thought: An Analysis from the Perspective of Avery Dulles' Models of the Church (Catholic Theological Union, 1997)
Andriy Mykhaleyko, "Per aspera ad astra:" der Einheitsgedanke im theologischen und pastoralen Werk von Josyf Slipyj (1892-1984), eine historische Untersuchung (Würzburg: Augustinus bei Echter, 2009) ISBN9783429041786
Taras Matviiv, The Vision of Church Unity in the Lives and Works of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Primates Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky and Patriarch Josyf Slipyj (Chicago Catholic Theological Union dissertation, 2015)
Iwan Dacko and Mariya Horyacha, editors, A Witness of the Silent Church: The Memoirs of Ukrainian Cardinal Josyf Slipyj, Eastern Catholic Studies and Texts, (The Catholic University of America Press, 2026) ISBN9780813240411
External links
Ukrainian Wikipedia page on Josyf Slipyj
Confessor Between East and West: A Portrait of Ukrainian Cardinal Josyf Slipyj by Jaroslav Jan Pelikan
Ukrainian J.Slipyj presiding 1964 clip Vatican silent home movie
Ukrainian Cardinal Slipyj arrives at the Toronto airport 1968
Cardinal Josyf Slipyj's Historic Visit to Australia in 1973 - Rare Footage Uncovered
Cardinal Josyf Slipyj Of The Ukrainian Catholic Church Pontifical Divine Liturgy 1973 (Vinyl Record)
