Father Andrii Stebivka, a priest of the Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo, was detained by recruitment agents on October 12 at a checkpoint in the Rivne region, in northwestern Ukraine, and taken to a military training center from which he could be sent to the front lines of the war with Russia, according to his family, who spoke to EWTN News.
The 38-year-old priest was returning from a spiritual retreat when he was intercepted, according to his parents, Bohdan and Natalia Stebivka. He was ordained in June 2024 at the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and is also an iconographer: he has painted sacred images in churches in Dublin, Boston, and several Ukrainian cities.
A gap in the state registry
Stebivka had recently been assigned to another parish. Administrative delays resulting from the transfer left a temporary gap in the state registry that certifies the pastoral work and ministerial service of priests in Ukraine.
Despite repeated attempts to prove his status as an active clergyman and his service to the faithful, the recruitment authorities rejected his documentation and sent him to a military training center. According to his family, he has already been assigned to a special assault unit and could enter combat soon.
Church efforts
The bishop of the Eparchy of Mukachevo, Teodor Matsapula, and the Apostolic Nunciature in Ukraine have made efforts before state authorities to clarify his situation and secure his return to his parish duties. According to EWTN News, those requests had not yet received a response at the time the information was published.
The priest’s parents have also made a public appeal to civil, military, and diplomatic authorities to recognize his priestly status and allow him to return to ministry in Mukachevo.
The Greek-Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo, based in Uzhhorod, in the Ukrainian region of Transcarpathia, is an Eastern Catholic jurisdiction of Byzantine tradition in communion with Rome. It maintains an autonomous status with respect to the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church headed by the Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halych.