Mobilized Ukrainian priest is training to be a chaplain, eparchy says

A priest who was mobilized for military service in Ukraine this month did not have documents confirming his right to a clergy deferment at the time, his eparchy said Oct. 23. It added that he is now training to serve as a military chaplain.

In a statement, the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo said Father Andrii Stebivka was mobilized Oct. 12 in the Rivne region of northwestern Ukraine. It said it had told its priests in advance how to proceed while a deferment was still being processed and the supporting documents had not yet been issued.

“Father Andrii did not follow these instructions, for which he is deeply sorry, and on his own initiative he apologized to the eparchial administration,” the statement said.

According to the eparchy, the priest told his bishop that he is at peace and accepts his present circumstances in the light of God’s providence. The eparchy said he has expressed a wish to serve as a military chaplain and is completing the required training and paperwork.

Neither Father Stebivka nor his parents could immediately be reached Friday to respond to the eparchyʼs statement.

EWTN News first reported the case Oct. 16, citing the priest’s parents, Bohdan and Natalia Stebivka. They said their son, 38, was stopped at a checkpoint while returning from a spiritual retreat. They said a recent parish transfer had delayed the state registration of his ministry and that recruitment officers did not accept the documents he presented.

Clergy in Ukraine are not automatically exempt from mobilization. Under procedures set by the State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience, religious organizations apply for deferments, known as “reservations,” for individual clergy.

The Eparchy of Mukachevo is a Byzantine-rite Catholic diocese in western Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region, with its cathedral in Uzhhorod. It reports directly to the Holy See and is not part of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Bishop Teodor Matsapula has led the eparchy since 2024.

Editor’s note: This story was updated Oct. 23, 2026, to include a statement from the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo and to remove details that could not be independently verified. EWTN News did not contact the eparchy before publishing the original story to verify the account of the priest’s parents.