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[[File:Gavriil Kostelnik.jpg|right|thumb|Protopresbyter Gabriel Kostelnik (1866-1948) as a Uniate priest.]]
The New [[Hieromartyr]] <ref group=note>Fr. Gabriel has not yet been glorified, although he is currently under consideration for canonization by the [[Church of Ukraine]]. In this regard, it has been suggested that the title '''"[[Passion-bearer]]"''' should be considered as a more accurate title for him based on the events of his life.</ref> Protopresbyter Dr. '''Gabriel Kostelnik''', also '''Havryil Kostelnyk''', '''Havriil Kostelnik''' or '''Gabriel of Galicia''' ({{ru icon}} Костельник, Гавриил Фёдорович, {{sr icon}} Хавријил Костељник, June 15, 1886 - [[September 20]], 1948) was a Carpatho-Russian [[priest]] who returned to the [[Orthodox Church]] soon after the end of World War II. He was an outstanding church leader, theologian, philosopher, religious publicist, poet, playwright and prose-writer.<ref name=DECR>Russian Orthodox Church: Official Website of the Department for External Church Relations. ''[http://www.mospat.ru/archive/en/ne081285.htm 50th anniversary of the martyrdom of Protopresbyter Gabriel Kostelnik].'' 8.12.1998.</ref> In Controversially however, in March 1946 he presided over the controversial state-sponsored Reunion Council in Lvov (''Lvov Assembly / Lviv Sobor'') calling for the return of all [[Uniates]] to the Orthodox Faith, before he was assassinated during the political and religious turmoil of the late 1940s.
==Life==
On [[September 20]], 1948, after the [[Divine Liturgy]] Fr. Gabriel was attacked on the steps of the [[w:Church of Transfiguration, Lviv|Cathedral of the Transfiguration in Lvov]] and killed by one, Vasily Pankiv, a terrorist who killed himself immediately after his deadly assault.
According to the official Soviet version, Pankiv was a member of the terrorist group led by [[w:Roman Shukhevych|Roman Shukhevich]], chief of the Ukrainian Rebel Army (UPA).<ref name=Interfax>Interfax-Religion. ''[http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=5186 The initiator of elimination of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church could be canonized].'' 23 September 2008, 12:16.</ref><ref>{{ru icon}} Из мемуаров Петра Судоплатова. ''[http://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/sudoplatov_pa/08.html «Военная Литература» Мемуары: Глава 8. «Холодная война» - Дорога к Ялте и начало мирного противостояния].''</ref> In addition, an official bulletin printed in the ''[http://www.jmp.ru/ Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate]'' (1948, № 10) and signed by Metropolitan [[Nicholas (Yarushevich) of Krutitsy|Nicholas (Yarushevich)]] stated that Kostelnik was "killed by an agent of the Vatican."<ref>{{ru icon}} ''[http://www.jmp.ru/ Журнал Московской Патриархии].'' 1948, № 10, стр. 9.</ref>
However, representatives of the UPA denied any involvement in the murder. And the ''[http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/default.asp Encyclopedia of Ukraine]'' states that although "Soviet authorities have blamed his murder on the Vatican and Ukrainian nationalists, the evidence suggests that the assassination was masterminded by the Soviet police."<ref name="UKRAINIAN"/>
* {{sr icon}} Serbian Wikipedia: [http://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A5%D0%B0%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B8%D0%BB_%D0%9A%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%99%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA Хавријил Костељник].
[[Category: Priests|Kostelnik]][[Category: Martyrs|Kostelnik]][[Category:Converts to Orthodox Christianity|Kostelnik]][[Category:Converts to Orthodox Christianity from Roman Catholicism|Kostelnik]]
