Blessed Ladislao Bukowinski was also known as Wladyslaw or Vladislav Bukovinskij.
He was a Roman Catholic priest.
He was born on December 22 1904 in Berdychiv, Ukraine and died on December 3 1974 at the age of 69 in Karaganda, Kazakhstan.
We celebrate his feast day on December 3 every year in the Catholic Church.
| Blessed Ladislao Bukowinski Biography | |
|---|---|
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| Date of Birth | December 22 1904 |
| Place of Birth | Berdychiv, Ukraine |
| Profession | Roman Catholic priest |
| Place of Work | USSR |
| Date of Death | December 3 1974 |
| Place of Death | Berdychiv, Ukraine |
| Feast Day | December 3 |
| Beatification | By Pope Francis on September 11 2016 |
| Patron Saint of | |
Blessed Ladislao Bukowinski’s Life History
Blessed Ladislao Bukowinski was born on December 22, 1904, in Berdychiv, Zhytomyr, Ukraine. He was one of three children born to Jozef Tsypriyan Bukowinski and Vladislav Jadwiga Schipo del Campo and was baptized at the age of four days.
He became a naturalized Polish citizen and pursued studies in law and theology at Jagiellonian University. On June 28, 1931, he was ordained as a priest in the diocese of Krakow, Poland.
From 1931 to 1935, Ladislao served as a vicar and catechist in Rabka. From 1935 to 1936, he worked as an assistant pastor and catechist in Sucha-Beskidzka.
In 1936, he was assigned to Luck, Volhynia, where he engaged with Polish immigrants and prisoners, both criminal and political.
During this time, he also taught sociology and catechism at the major seminary, served as the director of the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences, and worked as the deputy editor of The Catholic Life. In 1938, Ladislao became the General Secretary of Catholic Action in the diocese.
When World War II broke out in September 1939, he was appointed as the parish priest at the cathedral of Luck.
Ladislao was known for his intelligence, education, and piety, and he maintained his calm and spiritual demeanor even in the midst of the war.
On August 22, 1940, he was arrested by the NKVD (Communist secret police) and sentenced to eight years of hard labor for being a priest in a Communist-controlled area and for his outspoken defense of religious freedom.
Ladislao was condemned to death when the NKVD began executing prisoners but was released when the German army advanced into the region.
Upon his release, he resumed his pastoral work, which included hiding Jewish children with Catholic families.
However, he was arrested again by the NKVD on the night of January 3, 1945, and spent over a year in prison.
Subsequently, he was sentenced to more hard labor in the mines of modern Karaganda, Kazakhstan. During his time in prison, he continued to minister to other inmates.
In 1955, Ladislao was released from the gulag but was ordered to remain in exile in Kazakhstan, becoming a Soviet citizen in June of the same year.
In 1957, he was arrested again and sentenced to three more years in a labor camp for the crime of priesthood.
He was released in December 1961 and promptly resumed his work as a parish priest and missionary in a Muslim-majority region.
Blessed Ladislao Bukowinski died on December 3, 1974, in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, and his relics were enshrined in the cathedral of Karaganda in 2008.
Blessed Ladislao Bukowinski was beatified on September 11, 2016, by Pope Francis, and the beatification recognition ceremony took place in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, presided over by Cardinal Angelo Amato.
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