Honcharuk Pavlo

Pavlo Honcharuk is a Ukrainian Roman Catholic prelate, currently serving as the Diocesan Bishop of Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia. He was born on January 16, 1978, in Kornachivka (Yarmolyntsi), in the Diocese of Kamyanets-Podilskyi. He earned a licentiate in Canon Law from the “Stefan Wyszyński” University in Warsaw, Poland.

He was ordained a deacon on November 11, 2000, at the age of 22.8, and later a priest on June 22, 2002, at 24.4 years old by Bishop Jan Olszański, M.I.C., of Kamyanets-Podilskyi. He completed his philosophical and theological studies before ordination. Following ordination, he served as parish vicar at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Kamianets-Podilskyi (2002–2005) and as parish priest in Dunaivtsi (2010–2016). He also held roles as diocesan economist, Director of the diocesan Caritas (2003–2020), Defender of the Bond at the diocesan ecclesiastical tribunal (2005–2016), and later judge of the same tribunal. He also served as a military chaplain.

On January 6, 2020, Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia, and he was consecrated on February 14, 2020, at age 42 in the Cathedral of Kharkiv.

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, his diocese was directly affected. Bishop Honcharuk publicly spoke about the conflict and the suffering of local people, noting both the evil of war and the compassion, solidarity, and love among people. He refused to leave Kharkiv despite the danger, remaining to support the faithful. He documented attacks on civilian structures—hospitals, schools, businesses, universities, and homes—and actively participated in distributing food and visiting wounded civilians, sometimes alongside Bishop Mytrofan of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.