Ukrainian Martyr To Be Belatedly Beatified This Year

Petro (Peter) Pavlo Oros was born in the village of Biri on July 14, 1917, near Máriapócs, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father, Ivan (John) Oros was a priest of the Greek Catholic Ruthenian Church in communion with the Pope. His mother was Yelyzaveta (Elizabeth) Rakovska. His older brother, Ivan, was three years older and later also became a priest, for which he would be exiled to Siberia.

From childhood, Petro had to travel a lot: when he was a little over a year old, his father died, and his mother moved with her two sons to her father’s house in the village of Bereznyky. Two years later, his mother married notary Tibor Dudinsky and moved with her sons to his house in the neighboring village of Keretsky. When Petro was almost nine years old, his mother died. His stepfather remarried, and a year later sent Petro and his brother to the village of Skotarske to the family of Father Oleksandr Sabov, whose wife, Anna Oros, was the sister of their grandfather and also Petro’s godmother. After five years, the family moved to Mukachevo because Father Oleksandr retired. A year later, after the death of Father Oleksandr, Petro moved to Father Andriy Sabov and his family in the village of Sokyrnytsia.

From the very beginning, Petro Oros’s life was marked by the cross: the death of his father, the death of his mother, rejection, abandonment, constant relocations, changes of family, borders, and governments… God Himself was preparing Petro for the mission He had destined for him - to bring the Good News to those who suffer, to those who lack even the most basic things, to those who lose their loved ones. In 1937, Petro Oros, sensing the call to continue the family tradition as a priest, entered the seminary in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. On June 18, 1942, he was ordained a celibate priest in the village of Domanintsi of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Mukachevo and was immediately sent to serve in the village of Velyki Kom’yaty. In 1944, he was clandestinely ordained as auxiliary bishop of Mukacheve.

Just two years later, the Transcarpathian region of Ukraine was occupied by the Soviet Army, bringing with it persecution of the Church, terror, threats, arrests, exile to Siberia, and executions. This did not break the spirit of Father Petro's. He continued to serve people as before - first in Velyki Kom’yaty, then from 1946 in Bilky, and from 1949 underground, hiding throughout the Borzhava Valley in Western Ukraine. He was a man of prayer, peace, and respect for every person. His boundless generosity even caused misunderstandings, as he would give away newly gifted shoes or a jacket to the first person in need. He never thought of himself, only of others. Whether it was day or night, when someone needed his help, he was there for them.

Father Petro drew strength for life from the Holy Eucharist… in childhood, in the seminary, before persecution, and in hiding. Light in the midst of the darkness of night and persecution, hope amid despair, the place of encounter with the Savior, whose Kingdom is eternal and beyond the reach of any earthly power. 

Father Petro was a great devotee of the Mother of God. She became his true Mother, accompanying him on his journey, comforting him in his sorrows, and giving him courage in trials. From his youth, Petro always held a rosary in his hands, teaching both children and adults how to pray with it. During times of persecution, he always carried an icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa with him, placing it on an improvised altar in every house where he celebrated the Divine Liturgy. He even greeted others by saying, “Glory to Jesus Christ and Mary.”

During the period when the Church was forbidden, Father Petro served at night because traveling during the day was extremely dangerous. At night, he would move from village to village, celebrating the Divine Liturgy, hearing confessions, baptizing, marrying, burying the dead, and above all, proclaiming the Good News. The police detained him many times and interrogated him with beatings. But no one ever heard a harsh word from Father Petro’s mouth, not even toward his enemies or those who hated him. He always said that the Church would rise again. At one of the interrogations, a KGB officer asked the priest, “Do you, a young man, really believe in God?” to which Father Petro replied, “I not only believe in Him, but I also love Him.”

At the end of May 1953, Father Petro was held in prison in Uzhhorod for almost nine days. When he was released, people asked him if he had been beaten. He replied, “No, they didn’t beat me. On the contrary - I gave them a retreat. High-ranking officials came, asking questions about religion - what the difference was between us and the Orthodox, what the Eucharist and Confession were - and I explained everything to them. They didn’t beat me, but they released me almost immediately.” Father Petro even gave a rosary to one of the officers and taught him how to pray with it.

The authorities released Father Petro, promising him freedom of movement, work, and the ability to obtain a passport. He even regretted being released. He said, “I’m not happy about this. I would rather they kept me locked up, because even there, people are waiting for the Word of God.” The death of Father Petro Oros, like his entire life, found him on the road, in motion. He was hurrying to a dying person but did not make it in time. On August 28, 1953, a police officer prevented him from boarding a train in the village of Sil'tse and shot him near a roadside cross, killing him.

His murder was immediately recognized as a martyr’s death. Although his body remained hidden until the fall of the Soviet Union, the memory of him never faded from the hearts of the faithful.

The years of communist rule could not erase the memory of Father Petro’s holiness. People knew that he was buried on the grounds of a police station in the town of Irshava. After the fall of the Soviet Union, searches for the priest’s remains began, which were successful. Father Petro’s remains were reburied in the chapel near the church in the village of Bilky on August 28, 1992.

The beatification of Father Petro had been scheduled for May 2025, but was delayed following the death of Pope Francis. It has been re-scheduled for September 27 in Rome. The ceremony will be attended by all four active Ruthenian Greek Catholic rite bishops residing in the United States.