A PROMINENT Bolton priest is to take up a prestigious role after serving his Bolton flock for more than two decades.
The Very Reverend Andriy Choma has been named the Vicar General of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the UK.
Fr Choma, aged 49, has worked among the Ukrainian community in Bolton,
as well as Leigh, Preston and Blackburn for the past 22 years, having
previously been a priest in Coventry and Bradford.
But now the priest, who is originally from Nottingham, has accepted a
request from the head of Ukrainian Catholics in Great Britain, Bishop
Hlib Lonchyna, to become the national administrator of
the Church.
He said: “It has been like life, with its ups and downs,
but it is a wonderful parish with wonderful people.
“It was quite a big surprise to be asked to take up this new role. But with God’s help, I’m looking forward to it — it is a big responsibility.”
Bolton has a sizeable but dwindling community of Ukrainians who made
their home here after the Second World War, and second and third
generations still keep proud links with the Ukraine.
The Ukrainian community held a special farewell mass at the All Saints
Ukrainian Church in All Saints Street, Bolton, when they welcomed the
man who is to be their new priest, Father Yevhen
Nebesnyak.
Fr Choma said: “Fr Nebesnyak has spent quite a while in the Ukraine working with children over there.
“It is a beautiful church for him to come into. I’m sure he is a talented individual and I am sure he will bring a lot of good to the parish.”
Father Yevhen was from Manchester and has spent most of his career
running seminars for boys and young men who are considering a vocation
to the priesthood.
It will be a homecoming for the 60-year-old priest, who is taking up
his first position as a parish priest after workingin Rome and Lviv in
the Ukraine.
SIC: TIL/UK