Our Clergy

Father Vasyl Mutka

Fr. Vasyl Mutka was born in Drohobych, Ukraine, and came of age in the “catacomb church,” when the Ukrainian Catholic Church was considered the largest illegal church in the world because of its being banned by the Soviet Union. Fr. Vasyl recalls celebrating Divine Liturgies at midnight and praying with hushed voices in order to avoid detection by Soviet controlled police and receiving severe punishments. After the collapse of Communism, the Catholic Church was legalized, came out of the shadows, and men could once again be openly ordained.

Father Vasyl recalls that he was blessed by his mother the day he was born, for on that day, she placed him upon her chest, looked up to God and asked for him to become a priest. He tried entering a monastery at 15-years old. The Prefect, however, said that he was too young, so Father entered vocational school to study electro mechanics.  Then, at age 19, Father entered the seminary, where he spent five years earning a Master’s Degree.

Fr. Vasyl was ordained a priest in the Ukrainian Catholic Church on July 15, 2008. His first assignment was as pastor of Holy Spirit Byzantine Church in Potelych, Ukraine, which is the oldest wooden church in Ukraine, erected in 1502. Holy Spirit was closed under the Communists, but after Communism fell, Fr. Vasyl was the first priest to re-open the church.

In 2009, the Bishop transferred Fr. Vasyl to St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church in Manhattan, where he assisted until 2014.  That year, Fr. Vasyl chose to transfer to the Ruthenian Catholic Church, a smaller and poorer Byzantine Catholic Church also with roots in Ukraine, because he saw a greater need in that church and an opportunity to follow our Lord’s example of serving the poorest of the poor. Father was then assigned to St. George’s Byzantine Catholic Church in Olympia, Washington, where he served until 2019.

In August of 2019, Fr. Vasyl, his wife, and his two sons moved to Portland so that Fr. Vasyl could pastor the only Byzantine Catholic Church in the area.

frvasylm@gmail.com