13 October 2026
(Mykhailo Bubniy. PHOTO: synod.ugcc.u)
Mykhailo Bubniy, Exarch of Odesa of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, has been appointed head of the Council of Churches and Religious Organizations of Odesa and the Odesa Region. In this role, he succeeded Bishop Stanislav Shirokoradyuk of the Odesa-Simferopol Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, who had led the Council since its founding.
This was reported by the Odessa Exarchate of the UGCC.
The decision was adopted on October 12, 2026, during a Council meeting. Participants welcomed the new chairman and thanked his predecessor for his many years of service, openness to cooperation, and contribution to the development of interfaith relations in the Odesa region.
The Council brings together representatives of various religious denominations in the region. Its activities are aimed at fostering interfaith dialogue, mutual support, and the implementation of joint social initiatives.
Mykhailo Bubniy was born on September 16, 1970, in the village of Khlivchany in the Lviv region. He belongs to the Redemptorist religious order. He received his theological education in Poland, where he graduated from the Redemptorist Major Seminary in 1998 and earned a master’s degree in theology. He later studied canon law at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, where he earned a licentiate degree.
Bubniy was ordained a priest on August 19, 1997. In February 2014, he was appointed Exarch of the Odesa Exarchate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and Administrator of the Crimean Exarchate. His episcopal consecration took place on April 7 of that year in Kyiv, and his enthronement on April 12 in Odesa.
Since 2017, Mykhailo Bubniy has also headed the UGCC Patriarchal Commission for Monastic Affairs.
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