On 13 August 2025, we were saddened by the news of the passing of our confrere Peter Edward Stasiuk CSsR despite the awareness that he was in his final days and had already reconciled himself to the inevitability of his passing.
News spread very quickly, and there was discussion of the possibility of bringing Bishop Peter’s remains to Australia to be buried in the crypt of the Ukrainian Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, in North Melbourne.
His body finally arrived in Melbourne. Bishop Bryan Bayda CSsR, eparch of Toronto and Eastern Canada, Fr. Dmytro Dnistrain CSsR and Fr. Bohdan Lukie CSsR came from Toronto to join us for the vigil and the funeral of Bishop Stasiuk. Fr. Lukie was ordained with Bishop Peter on 2nd July 1967 and currently resides in Winnipeg, the city where Bishop Peter died.
The Ukrainian community in Melbourne invited us to the Ukrainian Cathedral in North Melbourne to attend two beautiful ceremonies which gathered people from many different places in Australia and overseas. Some of our Oceania Province confreres from Kew and St. Albans in Melbourne came to those two ceremonies to support Cardinal Mykola Bychok CSsR and his cathedral community. On the evening of the thirtieth of September, the Hierarchical Parastas took place (a solemn vigil for the repose of Bishop Stasiuk led by the Cardinal). On the following day, October the first, the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy was celebrated (the funeral Mass for Bishop Peter, again led by the Cardinal).
Those who are new to Ukrainian liturgies may consider them long, but they helped us to reflect on the goodness of God, and on the many stories around the life of deceased Bishop Stasiuk. They also led us to ponder the future of those who have died, and the hope all Christians have while still alive in this world. One of our young confreres who was attending a Ukrainian service for the first time at Bishop Peter’s funeral said that the liturgy showed a strong sense of humility, repeatedly calling on God’s mercy for the departed soul.
During the Hierarchical Parastas, Fr. Simon Cjuk, Vicar General of the Ukrainian Catholic Community in Melbourne, said that Bishop Stasiuk would be especially remembered because of his caring nature as a good pastor, and that the celebration was particularly meaningful for him and most of the Ukrainian priests in the Eparchy of Sts. Peter and Paul because Bishop Peter was the one who had ordained them. At the end of the vigil ceremony, Bishop Bayda shared his memories of Bishop Stasiuk as a friend, a fellow bishop, and a staff member. He recalled how influential Bishop Peter was in his own spiritual growth, revealing a potential in him that he had not yet realized. It started when Peter asked him to be the director of a summer Ukrainian language immersion camp in Saskatchewan, known as Camp Chaban. He thought he did not have much experience and expertise to offer at that time. However, he found himself growing in the role, and the program continued to be a successful ministry for seven years.
Bishop Bayda constructed his sharing in three parts: the life of Bishop Peter Stasiuk; the body of Christ to which we all belong; the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Bayda said that Bishop Peter was used by the Holy Spirit to call forth his potential as a member of the Body of Christ to grow as a person and to build the Church. He invited everyone present to realize that the Holy Spirit is still calling us to reveal our true dignity and potential. He encouraged his listeners to reflect on personal moments of encounter with Bishop Peter as rich memories of inspiration and life-giving experiences. He said that every funeral is God’s way of calling us to reflect on the mystery of the Body of Christ, and how we who are its members are called to inspire the world in the way we practice our love of God, of others, and of ourselves.
For Bayda, Peter Stasiuk was a role model for how to deepen our relationship with God, and how to be a good pastor and bring out the potentials in people’s lives. In his ministry to youth, Peter produced two record albums with his parish youth group in the 1970s. He taught people to be hockey coaches. He was a friend of those who like hunting, fishing, and gardening. He was a good family member and an uncle of very capable nieces and nephews, challenging them to value their faith. He gathered experts and scholars to produce resources for the growth of faith, such as the Catechism for the Ukrainian Catholic Church. A copy was laid in his coffin for him to take home to the Lord as an eternal written memory.
During the Hierarchical Divine Funeral Liturgy, the current Eparch, our confrere Cardinal Mykola Bychok CSsR, who succeeded Bishop Peter, highlighted some of Bishop Peter’s contributions to the Church in Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania. Recalling the feast of the Mother of God, the theotokos, and the influence of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, Mykola said that Bishop Peter’s spirituality was centered in Mary. Like the Icon of Mother of Perpetual Help whose fingers point people to Jesus, Bishop Peter helped individuals draw closer to Him. Peter encouraged the youth to live their lives with joy. He was very much involved with the Australian Bishops Conference and also played a significant role in building connections between the Eastern churches.
Concluding the celebration in the church, decorated everywhere with rich and colourful icons, built by Bishop Ivan Prasco, who was the first to be buried in the Cathedral Crypt in 2001, we walked with Bishop Peter to his eternal resting place. The Redemptorist confreres present from Toronto and Oceania accompanied the coffin. It was a moving moment for us, as we sent our brother Peter home to his eternal Creator. The bishops and all the Redemptorists, with some parishioners, were invited to put some soil beside the coffin before the grave was closed.
After the burial, we went for refreshments in the cathedral hall. Peter Borowok, from Bishop Peter’s family, addressed us on behalf of the family, saying, “Our family would like to start by thanking the clergy and faithful of Australia for your prayers and good wishes over the last few months of Bishop Peter’s life, and as we grieved his passing. Hearing your stories of your relationships and experiences with Bishop Peter has strengthened and enriched us. We see the personal connection you all had with him. You have shared your experiences; you prayed, and now we all grieve. We also want to thank you for the almost 30 years you shared with him. Although he was Canadian, and a piece of his heart was always in Canada, he truly became Australian because of you. Australia became his home, and this is where his body will rest.”
When Bishop Peter decided to become a priest, his family thought that they would lose him, — his father’s dream of farming with him were shattered. Peter spent several years studying in Ontario and the United States. According to Borowok, when Peter was ordained a priest, the family felt a mixture of shattered dreams, but also pride, and, for some, disbelief that someone from a poor farming family was chosen by God to do his work. Peter’s first parish was in Roblin. In that place, there was the time when his mother and father started to appreciate that they had not lost a son; they had gained a pastor, a teacher, a mentor, and a strong supporter of family ties and Ukrainian culture. Their family grew spiritually as they hosted priests and people from other parishes at their home, and they also became part of the Redemptorist family.
I was touched by this sharing about Bishop Peter exercising his ministry as a priest to his family. My deceased mother used to feel the same when she shared her feelings with me. Borowok related: “One very cold, stormy Christmas Eve, when the roads were several feet deep in snow and people in our local district could not go to liturgy, Father Peter braved the roads from town to have liturgy at his mom and dad’s farmhouse. Everyone in the farming neighbourhood was invited to celebrate Christmas with us. Family liturgies are one of the greatest gifts of having a priest in the family. They are so personal and have a significant impact on your faith. Being married by your brother and/or uncle deepens your bond with him and our church. It has been an honour for each family member to have Uncle Peter preside over the sacramental events in our lives, such as marriage, baptism, confirmation, and in some cases last rites and funerals.”
Borowok also mentioned his good memories of Peter, how the family were grateful for his presence and his great spiritual influence on their lives, which they greatly missed when he was not with them, especially after he was made a bishop. He was assigned to lead the Ukrainian Catholics in Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania, and was based mostly in North Melbourne from 1993 until his retirement on 15th January 2020. They felt reunited with him again as he went back to Canada to stay close to them until his last breath.
“God’s message is near you, on your lips and in your heart. That is the message of faith that we preach (Rm 10:8). This passage is a consolation for Bishop Peter’s family every time they remember him, and also for the Redemptorists, for his friends, and for all those who have come to know him.
We have lost a Redemptorist, a family member, a friend, a brother, an uncle, and a shepherd. We have lost a physical presence moving among us, but it is not a loss in the spiritual realm of life, as memories will stay on forever in our hearts. This loss can be considered a joyous loss, as Peter’s life is being united again spiritually with the Lord who gave him that life. Peter’s eternal sleep in Christ will never be restricted by earth’s bounds, by oceans and mountains, and the smallness of this earthly life. He is now praying for us from within God’s eternal presence. His life and good deeds shall continue to inspire the Ukrainian Church in Canada and Australia for years to come. Peter, our brother, rest in peace.
Sam Kono, CSsR.
Melbourne, Australia
