Martyred by USSR Name Hryhorij Lakota | Means of martyrdom gulag | |
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Venerated in Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church Beatified 27 June 2001, the Ukraine, by Pope John Paul II Died November 12, 1950, Vorkuta, Russia | ||
The Blessed Hryhorij Lakota, also known as Gregor Lakota (Hryhorij being the Ukranian spelling for Gregor) was a Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church auxiliary bishop who suffered religious persecution and was martyred by the Soviet Government.
Hryhorij Lakota was born 31 January 1893 in Holodivka, Lviv Oblast. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Przemysl on 16 May 1926. On 9 June 1946, he was arrested by the NKVD and sentenced to ten years imprisonment, as part of Joseph Stalin's suppression of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic (Uniate) church. He was martyred at the Abez labour camp, near Vorkuta on 12 November 1950.
Lakota and another Ukrainian Catholic Bishop, Josyf Slipyj, became the inspiration for the character of Kiril Pavlovich Lakota in the novel The Shoes of the Fisherman.
Hryhorij Lakota was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 27 June 2001 in the Ukraine.