Father Andrii Stebivka, a priest of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo, was detained by recruitment officers and taken to a military training camp from which he could be sent to the front lines of the war with Russia, his family said.
The incident occurred on 12 October at a checkpoint in the Rivne region of northwestern Ukraine. The 38-year-old priest, ordained two years ago, was returning from a spiritual retreat, according to his parents, Bohdan and Natalia Stebivka.
Stebivka had recently been transferred to a new parish, but administrative delays created a temporary gap in the state registry that certifies the pastoral work of priests in Ukraine. Despite repeated efforts to prove his active clergy status and ongoing ministry, recruitment authorities rejected his documentation and sent him to a military training centre. His family said he has already been assigned to a special assault unit and is expected to enter combat soon.
The bishop of the Eparchy of Mukachevo, Teodor Matsapula, and the apostolic nunciature in Ukraine have taken formal steps with government authorities to clarify his status and secure his return to parish duties. These requests have so far gone unanswered.
Stebivka, ordained in June 2024 at the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, is also an iconographer. He has created sacred compositions and apse murals in churches in Dublin, Boston, and Ukrainian cities including Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Rivne and Uzhhorod.
Faced with the risk of his deployment, his parents have publicly appealed to civil, military and diplomatic authorities to recognise the pastoral nature of his vocation and allow him to continue his priestly ministry in Mukachevo.
This story was first published by EWTN News Español and has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
19 October 2026
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