www.byzcath.org Forums News & Events Church News Russian Greek-Catholic martyrs dropped from beatification cause

The Catholic Church in Russia announced a reorganization of the cause of beatification for Russian Catholic New Martyrs:

https://cathmos.ru/reorganizacziya-proczessa-beatifikaczii-rossijskih-katolicheskih-novomuchenikov/ (Russian)

(video in Russian)

https://www.acistampa.com/story/rus...icazione-dei-martiri-del-xx-secolo-17249 (Italian)

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/...organizes-causes-of-20th-century-martyrs (English)

https://www.ncregister.com/cna/catholic-church-in-russia-reorganizes-causes-of-20th-century-martyrs (English)

The cause for Mother Catherine Abrikosova continues, but...


They have lost their status as "Servants of God". I find this very disappointing.

Would anyone know why they were dropped?

The cause for Fr. Fabian Abrantovich has been transferred to the responsibility of the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception.

How do you conclude they are no longer Servants of God? This is about who is in charge of advancing the cause.

From the Russian article I posted above:

"Из процесса были исключены следующие священники: Епифаний (Игорь Александрович) Акулов (1897-1937) и Потапий (Петр Андреевич) Емельянов (1884-1936), а также с. Роза Сердца Марии, OPL (Галина Енткевич; 1896-1944). Они утратили статус Слуг Божьих."

From the Italian article I posted above:

"I sacerdoti: Epifaniy (Igor Alexandrovich) Akulov (1897-1937) e Potapiy (Peter Andreevich) Emelyanov (1884-1936), nonché suor Rosa del Cuore di Maria, OPL (Galina Entkevich; 1896-1944)) hanno perso il loro status di Servi di Dio."

Google Translate translation from Russian:
"The following priests were excluded from the process: Epiphany (Igor Alexandrovich) Akulov (1897-1937) and Potapiy (Peter Andreevich) Emelyanov (1884-1936), as well as s. Rose of the Heart of Mary, OPL (Galina Entkevich; 1896-1944). They have lost their status as Servants of God."

I found another article in Russian that provides more details: https://cathmos.ru/reorganizaczionn...ih-katolicheskih-novomuchenikov-xx-veka/



Google Translate translation:
"The following Greek Catholic priests were excluded from the process: Epiphany (Igor Alexandrovich) Akulov (1897-1937) and Potapiy (Peter Andreevich) Emelyanov (1884-1936). The main reason was that there was practically no veneration for them, and not enough evidence and historical materials were collected. As for the Greek Catholic nun - p. Roses of the Heart of Mary OPL (Galina Entkevich; 1896-1944), then there are serious historical materials about her, but she died at large in Kazakhstan eight years after her last short arrest, and today it is not clear how she got into the first list of Servants of God - martyrs, although she really suffered a lot in her life. Therefore, for her in the future, only the process of confessing the faith is assumed. Unfortunately, they all lost their status as Servants of God.

To prevent this from happening, the postulator of the trial several times turned to the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church - Archbishop of Kiev-Galician Svyatoslav (Shevchuk). However, he never answered questions related to the process of beatification of the Servants of God - Greek Catholics."

No veneration for them??? That's odd considering there is mention of veneration for them in the offical website for the cause of their beatifiication: http://en.catholicmartyrs.org/

Apparently, the postulator attempted to contact His Beatitude Svytoslav to prevent the three from being dropped but he never replied back.

The transfer of responsibility for promotion of the cause of the Servants of God Fathers Fabian, Andrej, Janism abd Stanislaus to their respective orders is not surprising. There is president and a tendency toward taking that approach.

That Father Potapy Emelianov was found wanting in regard to veneration seems odd to me. The Russian Catholic community at St Petersburg, which worships according to the Old Rite, is believed to represent descendents of the community which he brought into communion and was particularly devoted to his cause according to what has been said in the past.

As regards the Servant of God Sister Rose, one of Mother Catherine's sisters, the Google translation suggests that the question relates to her physical martyrdom. It is well-established that those whose deaths result from years of persecution (e.g. Maximilian Kolbe) but not a direct killing act are able to be considered martyrs - I am blanking as to the particular term that has been used in these instances.

I don't know enough about Fathers Epiphany and Akulov to comment.

Many years,

Neil