Bl. Volodymyr Pryjma

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Bl. Volodymr Pryima was a Ukrainian, Greek Catholic. He was born on July 17, 1906 in the village of Stradch, in the Yavoriv District of Western Ukraine, near the former Polish border. He attended a school for signers of liturgical music, becoming a cantor, and leading a choir in celebration. He worked in his local village church in Stradch.

According to all accounts, Pryima was martyred on June 26, 1941, after he accompanied his parish priest, Fr. Nicholas Conrad (Fr. Mykola Konrad), to visit a sick woman who requested the Sacrament of Reconciliation. While returning through the forest near their town, they were detained by agents of the NKVD. The NKVD was a department of the Soviet government responsible for overseeing police work and running prison and labor camps.

Agents of the NKVD tortured and murdered Pryima and Fr. Nicholas. His body was not discovered until one week after the murder. He had been stabbed through the chest several times with a bayonet.

Having given his life for the faith, Pryima has been recognized as a martyr. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 27, 2001. Fr. Conrad was likewise beatified simultaneously and both are recognized as "blessed."