Ukrainian priest forcibly conscripted, could be sent to front lines

Father Andrii Stebivka, a priest of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo, was forcibly detained by recruitment officers and taken to a military training camp from where he could potentially be sent to the front lines of the war with Russia, his family stated.

The incident took place on Oct. 12 at a checkpoint in the Rivne region of northwestern Ukraine. The 38-year-old priest, who was ordained two years ago, was returning from participating in a spiritual retreat, according to his parents, Bohdan and Natalia Stebivka.

Stebivka was recently transferred to a different parish, but administrative delays inherent in this change of pastoral assignment created a temporary gap in the state registry that formally certifies the pastoral work and ministerial service of priests in Ukraine.

Despite repeated efforts to provide proof of his active clergy status and ongoing pastoral service to the faithful, 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 is expected to enter combat in the near future.

The bishop of the Eparchy of Mukachevo, Teodor Matsapula, and the apostolic nunciature in Ukraine are taking formal steps with government authorities to clarify the priest’s status and secure his reinstatement to his parish duties. So far, these requests have gone unanswered.

Stebivka, who was ordained a priest in June 2024 at the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, is also noted for his artistic work as an iconographer.

Throughout his ministry, he has created sacred compositions and apse murals in churches in Dublin, Boston, and various Ukrainian cities, such as Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Rivne, and Uzhhorod.

Faced with the imminent risk of being sent to the battlefield, the priest’s parents have made a public appeal to civil, military, and diplomatic authorities, requesting that the pastoral nature of his vocation be recognized and that he be permitted to continue carrying out his priestly ministry in Mukachevo.

This story was first published by EWTN News Español, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.