He was ordained a priest of the Archeparchy of Lviv in 1938 by Metropolitan
Andrey Sheptytsky. He then continued his doctoral studies in theology in
Austria. After
World War II, he was unable to return to Ukraine and emigrated to the United States, where he continued his pastoral work, first as a priest at St. Peter and Paul Church in
Cleveland, Ohio for almost 20 years, and then from 1968 as a teacher of languages at the St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Seminary in Washington, St. Basil's College in Philadelphia and St. Basil's Academy in
Stamford, Connecticut before being consecrated archbishop of Philadelphia in 1979.
Soviet authorities lifted the ban against the Church in 1989, and Lubachivsky along with other leadership of the UGCC officially returned to Lviv from exile on 30 March 1991. Lubachivsky is buried in
St. George's Cathedral in Lviv. ==Notes==