PARMA, Ohio — No longer occupied with the demands of parish life, Father Michael Hayduk said he is enjoying the extra time he has now in his retirement for prayer.

The 67-year-old priest retired after 41 years of active ministry this past summer. Parishioners of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, where he served his last pastoral assignment, threw him a retirement party in the parish hall Aug. 17.

“I can now concentrate on being a priest again. I am concentrating more on my prayer life,” he told Horizons last month. Father Hayduk said he also enjoys substituting at parishes on weekends and feast days, including St. John the Baptist Parish in Solon, Ohio.

Father Hayduk was ordained by Bishop Emil J. Mihalik at the cathedral in Parma May 8, 1977, at age 25. His first assignment was for six months at St. Mary Parish in Cleveland, after which he served at St. George Parish in Bay City, Michigan, for nearly two years and then at Dormition Parish near Akron, Ohio, for one year. In 1980, he was assigned to St. Michael Parish in Akron. In 1985, he began at St. Mary Magdalene Parish in Fairview Park, Ohio, for two years.

He then served as editor of Horizons, from 1986 to 1992. For two years during this period, he served at St. Gregory Parish in Lakewood, Ohio (1990-92), and then once again at St. Mary Parish in Cleveland for the next five years. From 1997 to 2000, he served as chaplain to the Byzantine Catholic nuns of St. Clare in North Royalton, Ohio. He was assigned to St. Nicholas Parish in Cleveland for the next three years, until his assignment began as rector of the cathedral in 2003.

In addition to his pastoral assignments, Father Hayduk served as chairman of the Parma Liturgy Commission, syncellus for doctrine and worship, secretary/treasurer of the Intereparchial Liturgy Commission, liturgical master of ceremonies, member of the Presbyteral Council, judge on the eparchial marriage tribunal, director of the Pre-Cana program, coordinator of the Ohio protopresyterate wedding jubilarians, Byzantine Catholic vicar for the deaf, member of the International Catholic Deaf Association, and eparchial representative for the Uniontown pilgrimage. 

Father Hayduk said he enjoyed his years of active ministry.

“You get to touch people for Christ at very crucial times in their lives: baptism, wedding, sickness, death,” he said. “I have been privileged to be a part of that.”

Father Marek Visnovsky, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Cleveland, succeeded Father Hayduk as rector and administrator of the cathedral. Father Visnovsky, who also serves as protosyncellus, maintains his pastorship at St. Mary Parish. He also took on the role of administrator at Holy Spirit Parish in Parma and St. Nicholas Parish in Cleveland. He is assisted by Father Michal Bucko, who arrived from Slovakia this past summer.

Father Hayduk is one of four priests who retired this fall and who will be featured in upcoming issues.
 
Caption: Father Michael Hayduk smiles in appreciation as (l. to r.) Joe Shirilla, Toni Shirilla, Rita Basalla, Bill Basalla and Michael Caithml applaud him at his retirement party Aug. 17, for his years of ministry at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. (Photo: David Bratnick)
 
As published in Horizons, Dec. 2, 2018.
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