Eparchy of Stamford
Prior to his appointment as Rector of St Basil Ukrainian Catholic Seminary on September 1st 2018, Father Tymchyshyn served as the Head of the Patriarchal Commission for Family Life and as a professor of Moral Theology at the Catechetical Pedagogical Institute and the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine. A native of Ukraine, Father Tymchyshyn came to the United States to study for the priesthood in 1996. He is a graduate of St. Basil’s (2001) and holds the STB and M.Div degrees from St. Joseph’s Seminary, Yonkers, NY ; a Licentiate in Moral Theology (STL) from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome; and a Doctorate in Moral Theology (STD) from the same institution. Following his studies, Father Tymchyshyn remained in Ukraine and was ordained to the priesthood in 2008 by the Most Rev. Ihor Vozniak at St. Georges Cathedral in Lviv. On, August 6, 2020, Most Rev. Paul Chomnycky, OSBM, Bishop of Stamford, elevated Father Bohdan Tymchyshyn to the Office of Protopresbyter in the Chapel of St. Basil Seminary.
Hieromonk Raphael Strontsitskyy was appointed as Spiritual Director of St. Basil Seminary in the fall of 2020. Fr. Raphael is a member of the monastic community of the Studite Monastery of St. Michael the Archangel in Lviv, which belongs to the Holy Dormition Lavra in Univ (Ukraine). Fr. Raphael graduated from Holy Spirit Seminary in Lviv and the Ukrainian Catholic University with STB and Master’s degrees in Theology, and from the Yerevan State University with a Master’s degree in Armenian Philology. Currently, he is writing his STL thesis on the Transfiguration in the Armenian ecclesiastical tradition at the Catholic University of America. Since November 2017, he has also been serving as Interim Pastor of St. Mark Armenian Catholic Church in Wynnewood, PA.
As a tri-ritual priest (Byzantine, Armenian, and Latin Rites), Fr. Raphael has experience in different administrative and pastoral duties. Some of his previous duties include being Personal Secretary to His Beatitude Lubomyr Cardinal Husar in Kyiv (Ukraine); Retreat Master in the various UGCC parishes and seminaries in Ukraine, the United States, and Canada; and Spiritual Director of the Minor Seminary of St. Nersess the Great of the Armenian Catholic Church in Yerevan (Armenia). While in Ukraine, he served as Prefect for students at the St. John the Theologian Studite House of Studies in Rudno, and he was also Spiritual Advisor for Ukrainian Youth for Christ in Lviv. For several years he also ministered at St. Michael’s Parish in Lviv as the Director of the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Sunday School, Spiritual Advisor of the Youth choir “Axios”, and as Trainer in the marriage preparation (Pre-Cana) program.