Being a member of the Knights of Columbus in Saskatoon and also a member of the Darcy McGee 4th Degree Assembly for many years I have always wondered who Bishop Nicetas Budka was, being that also in Saskatoon there was a Bishop Budka Assembly for the Brother Knights of the city who were Ukrainian. For the 25 plus years I have been a Knight you for sure would think I would have known who this man was, but didn't until my family moved to Hafford this past May.
So who was this man born June 7,1877 in Ukraine you ask? Well, he was a man who was held in high respect by a lot of Canadians, especially the Ukrainian people in the west and in the Hafford District, for more than one reason. All Ukrainian people of Canada had "No Bishop to call their own" for many years until he was ordained a priest on Oct. 14, 1905 at the age of 28. He was ordained Bishop seven years later to the day on Oct. 14, 1912 at age 35.
Metropolitan Sheptesky then made a first visit to Canada in 1910 saying that Ukrainian Canadian Catholics will finally have a "Bishop to call their own" and have their own Hierarchy as well as the Roman Catholic Hierarchy.
So after Budka was appointed Bishop, he then left for Canada Nov. 12, 1912 to be welcomed by Prime Minister Borden in Montreal on Dec. 6, 1912 to be the first Ukrainian Bishop for Canada, being stationed in the Hafford-Krydor area of Saskatchewan. I also now have found out who Metropolitan Sheptesky was, being that there is also a Knights of Columbus Council in Saskatoon named Sheptesky and wondered why there was a Ukrainian Council with his name being honoured.
In 1913, shortly after Bishop Budka arrived in Canada, there were about 50 parishes (and 80,000 Ukrainian people) across the country, expanding to over 160 by 1922, a great feat for the young Bishop during and after the First World War, the incoming Depression and upcoming Second World War.
When he arrived he only had the help of four Basilian and Redemptorist priests and a few Deacons, of which six transferred to the Ukrainian Rite. These were great tasks in those days for the clergy setting up congregations between Brandon and Edmonton while being stationed out of the Hafford-Krydor District. Also, in 1913 the Bishop started the Incorporation Act for the Ukrainian Catholic Church of Canada allowing them to transfer churches to the corporation and allowing them to protect and insure church property.
In November of 1928, he resigned as Bishop in Canada for the Ukrainian Eparchy and returned to Lviv.
On returning to Lviv in August 1930, he was appointed Vicar General of the Archeparchy of Lviv and between 1930 and 1939 he helped rebuild the Marian Shrine in Zarvanytsia. Then in April 1945, he was arrested for treason against the Communist Goverment and the USSR and placed in prision in Kyiv. In July 1946 he was moved to the Karadzhar Prison, a Siberian labour camp near Karaganda, Kazakhstan where he died Sept. 28, 1949 at the age of 72. He was buried near the prison with a marker that only said # 40. Reports have said he died from being tortured as well as mental illness due to the mental and physical abuse he was subjected to.
In June of 2001 in Rome where Bishop Budka visited a couple of times he became Martyr Bishop Budka thanks to Pope John Paul II.
Now, a lot of you Catholics and Ukrainian Catholics are wondering what this has to do with the Hafford district and why on June 30, 2013 a monument/plaque was dedicated in his honour and why this past Sunday, Oct. 5 at Hafford's Holy Eucharist Ukrainian Catholic Church there was a special celebration with Bishop Bryan Bayda, Bishop Wiwchar, Monsignor Luzney and parish priest Fr. Valamyr all in attendance.
The annual celebration was to honour Bishop Budka for his work in Canada as well as to remind people that in July 1918 he was arrested in Hafford during a mission by what is now the RCMP for treason against Canada and that the $100,000 bail was raised by the parishoners of the Holy Eucharist Church where he was stationed. Later that same month at his trial, all charges were dropped.
The accuser, who was not from the Hafford-Krydor district, was charged with false accusations.
But the thought of being accused of such a crime stayed with the Bishop Budka til he died. Because of his being accused of this and later found not guilty, highly respected priests from all over have said that Hafford is "the cradle of spirituality, culture and intellectual awareness." Many people, including War Veterans, lobbied to not have Budka deported and said he was very loyal to the point where in November 1920 he became a Canadian Citizen. This should have been enough to close the controversy about him, but with articles being printed in both English and Ukrainian papers this was hard to pass by unnoticed. The papers back then did nothing to promote the good works of Bishop Budka, such as spending nights in jail with death row men, praying with them, giving them communion and even walking with them to the gallows where they were to be hung. He also spent his vacation time digging the foundation for the school in Mundare, Alta. near Edmonton.
With this taking its toll on the comical Bishop, as well as health problems starting, he would sometimes miss mass, but he would not forget his people, never holding grudges against anyone or his accusers or people who made jokes of him or about him. Therefore in 1927 he left Canada for the Ukraine after a 15-year term of Bishop for his Ukrainian people and never returned after this. As his legacy, he left Canada with 200,000 parishioners, 47 priests, close to 300 parishes, various schools and orphanages as well as training for theological students in St. Boniface, Toronto and Montreal.
Also on this same day the Holy Eucharist Church celebrated the 65th Anniversary of the Ukrainian Catholic Womens League (UCWL) in the hall after the Divine Liturgy with a luncheon for about 100 people celebrating both events and letting all present know of their works and charities they donate to such as Telemiracle, various scholarships and helping out financially at the Hafford Special Care and Nursing Home.
