Two Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests were released from Russian captivity as part of the latest exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia.
Fr Ivan Levytsky and Fr Bohdan Geleta had been held in Russian detention since November 2022, when they were arrested by Russian forces in Berdyansk in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region.
Immediately after their return to Ukraine last week, the two priests attended the National Prayer Breakfast in Kyiv hosted by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, which united senior Ukrainian politicians, international supporters of Ukraine, and religious representatives. President Zelenskiy thanked the Vatican for its role in facilitating the exchange.
“Thanks to the efforts of our team and the mediation of the Holy See, for which I am especially grateful, we were able to bring them back to freedom. We believed it was possible. We worked for it,” he said.
Pope Francis, in his Sunday address after the Angelus prayer, expressed his joy at their return. “I give thanks to God for the freeing of the two Greek Catholic priests,” he said, and called for prayers that “all prisoners return home”.
In December 2022, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, warned of the priests’ deteriorating health, accusing their Russian captors of mistreatment and torture.
After their release on Friday, Shevchuk thanked the entire Vatican diplomatic corps, in particular Cardinal Matteo Zuppi and the apostolic nuncio to Ukraine Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas.
The release of the prisoners followed the Ukraine Peace Summit that took place in Switzerland on 15-16 June. The prospect of a prisoner exchange was high on the agenda, with the Vatican’s secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin emphasising the Holy See’s ability to maintain an open line of communication between the Vatican, Kyiv, and Moscow and its readiness to assist in mediation.
Parolin also warned of periodic non-compliance with the Fourth Geneva Convention, which deals with the humanitarian protection of civilians during war.
The exchange of the two Greek Catholic priests was understood to be connected to an earlier exchange of a high-ranking Orthodox bishop who was sent to Russia. Metropolitan Ionafan of the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church was convicted by the Ukrainian authorities in August last year for justifying Russian aggression and sentenced to five years of imprisonment.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow met the bishop immediately after he arrived in the Russian capital and thanked him for his loyalty to the Russian Orthodox Church. According to the Church’s statement, Patriarch Kirill had personally petitioned for his release and reached an agreement with Kyiv through negotiations.
In Belarus, a priest jailed in May for displaying a Ukrainian flag in a social media post was detained in prison for an extra week after his scheduled release.
On 8 May Fr Andrzej Yukhniewicz OMI was arrested alongside his colleague, Fr Pawel Lemekh OMI at the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Shumilina, in the north-eastern Diocese of Vitebsk. Fr Jukhniewicz was accused of “subversive activity to the detriment of the Belarussian state”, which is allied to Russia.
In 2022, Fr Yukhnievich, who is the superior of the Oblate mission in Belarus, had voiced solidarity with the people of Ukraine and appealed for prayers for an end to the war there. He was due for release in the week commencing 24 June but this was postponed until 2 July.
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