The Ukrainian Catholic Church has opened a cause of the beatification of the late Cardinal Ljubomyr Husar, who led the Eastern-rite Church through a period of growth after the collapse of Communism.
In opening the cause for his predecessor, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said that “the strength of his word and his spirit have continued to serve as orientation and support for people in daily life, especially in the days of the terrible war we are experiencing.”
Born in Lviv in 1933, the future prelate fled to the US with his family in 1944. Ordained to the priesthood in the US, he eventually returned to Ukraine, where he became vicar general and then Major Archbishop of Lviv.
As the Ukrainian Catholic Church consolidated its position, he transferred his see to Kiev in 2004, remaining in that post until his resignation in 2011.
He died in 2017 at the age of 84.