A Journey of Faith: Manor College Grad’s Path to Priesthood
Deacon Bohdan Vasyliv ‘15 (Philadelphia/Northeast High School) earned an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Arts from Manor College.
Deacon Bohdan Vasyliv ‘15 had his life figured out. He was a high school teenager who enjoyed computer programming. He even had a scholarship to go to college lined up. But something was missing.
Around the same time, Deacon Vasyliv started taking his faith seriously.
“I started looking forward to going to church more than it being something I had to do,” Deacon Vasilyiv said.
He was a shy kid, but he began being an altar server and found a love for learning liturgy. That’s when a local priest suggested going into the priesthood.
“This is what you need to do with your life,” Vasyliv said. “You should go into the priesthood.”
In December, Deacon Vasyliv completed a nearly decade-long journey through his ordination as a priest in the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
“Honestly, when I first entered the seminary, I thought the education would never end, but it just flew by,” Vasyliv said. “Now, the journey itself is only starting.”
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Before entering the seminary, Deacon Vasyliv – a native Ukrainian – was advised to go to college to help work on his English. As a parishioner at St. Michael the Archangel Ukrainian Catholic Church, Deacon Vasyliv drove past Manor College often. He began attending classes as a Liberal Arts student in 2013.
“Manor College was an incredible blessing for me,” Deacon Vasyliv said. “In high school, people weren’t as passionate about learning. Entering Manor, seeing people eager to learn and teachers eager to teach, was a huge inspiration.”
At Manor, Deacon Vasyliv became empowered by the depth of conversations he’d have in his religion classes. He remembered how Professor Michael Sims pushed the students to think about their faith.
“We think we know our faith until we are asked to explain it,” Deacon Vasyliv said. “He never judged, but he made us think about God and religion in more profound ways.”
Deacon Vasyliv became a natural at those in-depth conversations.
“(Deacon Vasyliv) was someone who came here and you knew you could have a higher level conversation with him,” said Michael Landis, Director of Liberal Arts at Manor. “He became this quiet academic. I always appreciated how he came here in his pursuit of theology.”
After graduating from Manor in 2015, Deacon Vasyliv studied at Catholic University of America and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy. He entered the St. Charles Seminary in Wynnewood after graduation.
For years, his goal was to become a priest. As December 1 approaches and that dream becomes a reality, Deacon Vasyliv wants to continue his work of serving others.
“One does not go to be a priest for fame,” Deacon Vasyliv said. “I always saw something more in my life in the church. I want to be somebody who calls people back to God.”
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