'Pioneering' retired Ukrainian Catholic Bishop Losten dies at age 95

(OSV News) -- A Ukrainian Catholic bishop whose legacy was one of "pioneering and lasting" achievements for both church and community has died in Connecticut at age 95.

Retired Bishop Basil H. Losten died in the early hours of Sept. 15 in a Stamford, Connecticut, hospital, following a short illness, according to the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford and the press office of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Kyiv, Ukraine. Details of the funeral arrangements have not yet been released.

His funeral liturgy will be celebrated Sept. 23 at St. Andrew Ukrainian Catholic Church in Campbell Hall, New York, followed by burial at Holy Spirit Cemetery there. Ahead of the funeral, viewings and parastas (Byzantine-rite memorial services) will take place Sept. 21 and 22 at St. Basil Ukrainian Catholic Seminary in Stamford.

A native of Chesapeake City, Maryland, the bishop -- who retired in 2006 -- was one of eight children. After attending Immaculate Conception Parish School in Elkton, Maryland, he entered the preparatory school and seminary of St. Basil the Great in Stamford, earning a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a subsequent licentiate in theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1957 and to the episcopacy in 1971, Bishop Losten "exercised a tireless pastoral ministry of presence and engagement," with the impact of that ministry felt in both the U.S. and globally, said Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia.

In a tribute posted to the UGCC website Sept. 15, Archbishop Gudziak said that Bishop Losten had led a campaign during the 1980s to bring international attention to the plight of the UGCC, which had been formally banned in Ukraine by Soviet officials in 1946. Thousands of UGCC clergy, religious and laity were detained, tortured and imprisoned, while church buildings were confiscated or destroyed by Soviets.

In 1988, just three years before the Soviet Union fell and Ukraine gained its independence, Bishop Losten was "seminal" in bringing awareness of Ukraine's 1,000-year history of Christianity to "a broad global audience," wrote Archbishop Gudziak, noting the bishop had sponsored two mosaic icons of St. Volodymyr and St. Olha -- under whom Ukraine had adopted Christianity in the 10th century -- at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

In the 1990s, the bishop "helped our church in Ukraine get off its knees" as that nation emerged from the shadows of communism, said Archbishop Gudziak.

With Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 -- which continues attacks launched in 2014 and has been declared a genocide in two major human rights reports -- Bishop Losten found himself a "trusted advisor" to Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the UGCC, "at a time of war, humanitarian crisis … and critical spiritual and social need," wrote Archbishop Gudziak.

As part of his "tireless pastoral ministry," Bishop Losten also led the construction of Ascension Manor in Philadelphia, a complex of some 240 affordable apartments for low-income seniors of Ukrainian, Black, Asian and Hispanic heritage, said the archbishop.

"Today, as the country struggles to bring harmony to peoples and races … Ascension Manor (is) … a shining witness to how our Ukrainian Catholic community can extend a hand to our surroundings and services minorities in our neighborhoods," said Archbishop Gudziak.

Bishop Losten -- who endowed the Ukrainian church studies program at The Catholic University of America, while serving as a "generous benefactor" of Ukrainian CatholicUniversity in Lviv, Ukraine -- "represented a continuity among generations of faith living communion in Christ," wrote Archbishop Gudziak.