Venerable Andrey Sheptytsky

I would continue sharing more information about Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky. His concern for the Jewish people did not go unnoticed. The Galician-Jewish newspaper, Chwila, in July 1935, celebrated the Metropolitan’s 70th birthday, with a personal greeting from L’viv’s Chief Rabbi, Dr. Ezekiel Lewin.

Sheptytsky’s special relationship with the Jewish populace meant that he had to face the brunt of chauvinism from certain quarters. In 1902 he was vehemently criticized by what he later termed anti-semitic Vieneese journals. His countering-comments provide the best rationale as to why a Catholic prelate should have been so welcoming to a people, who in Europe had traditionally borne such widespread mistrust.

In light of his positive regard for the Jewish people in Galicia, it cannot be seen as surprising that, during the Nazi occupation, he came to the defense of the Jewish population. One event in particular, may be singled out as a catalyst for his motivations. On July 2, 1941, he received at St. George’s Hill the Chief Rabbi of L’viv, Ezekiel Lewin. Perceiving Lewin’s life to be in danger he requested the Rabbi to stay under his protection. Lewin, however, declined his offer stating that he wished to return home to his family. That evening Ezekiel Lewin was apprehended and brutally murdered. On hearing the news of Lewin’s death, Sheptytsky responded by immediately granting Lewin’s two sons sanctuary in St. George’s Cathedral and several Ukrainian Greek-Catholic monasteries until the summer of 1944, when the Soviet forces arrived.

In February 1942 Sheptytsky took the audacious step of writing a personal letter of protest to the leader of the S.S. Heinrich Himmler. He later recollected that “the German officer who brought me Himmler’s reply intimated that, but for my age, I would have been shot for daring to intercede on behalf of the Jews. Sheptytsky’s protests did not stop with Himmler. Not intimidated by Himmler’s threats the Metropolitan directed a letter of complaint to Adolf Hitler in 1942 about the ill-treatment of the Ukrainian populace by the German occupying forces. The exact reason as to why Himmler only threatened Sheptytsky’s execution and did not act on his threat is unknown.

As some may know, the cause for his canonization is being renewed under our Patriarch. The Ecumenical Patriarch Francis, Bishop of Rome, has decreed him “venerable.”