Blessed Ivan was born at Odrekhova, Galicia in 1899.  He was ordained a priest in 1923.  In 1935 he entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.  On the outbreak of persecution in 1945 he was interned with all the other Redemptorists.  In 1950 he was imprisoned for two years enduring seventy-two nocturnal interrogations and torture.  In November 1951 he was sentenced to ten years forced labour and deported to Siberia.  On Good Friday 1952 he was cruelly beaten with sticks and died three days later.

Ivan Ziatyk was born on 26th December 1899 in the village of Odrekhova, some 20 kilometres southwest of the town of Sanok (now a territory of Poland).  His parents, Stefan and Maria, were poor peasants.  When Ivan was 14, his father died.  The burden of bringing up the child was taken up by his mother and elder brother Mykhailo, who took the place of his father for Ivan.

Ivan received his secondary education in the Sanok gymnasium, where he studied from 1911-1919.  In 1919 Ivan Ziatyk entered the Ukrainian Catholic Seminary in Przemysl, and he graduated with distinction on 30th June 1923.  That same year, after having completed his theological studies, Ivan Ziatyk was ordained a priest.

From 1925-1935 Fr. Ziatyk worked as a prefect of the Ukrainian Catholic Seminary in Przhemysl.  In addition to the spiritual direction of the seminarians, he also contributed to their intellectual formation: He taught catechetics and dogmatic theology at the same seminary. In addition to his work at the seminary, Fr. Ivan was also spiritual director and catechetics teacher at the Ukrainian Girls' Gymnasium in Przemysl.

Fr. Ziatyk was a person of great kindness, obedience, and spiritual depth.  He always made a deep impression on those around him.  For quite a long time had had a desire to join a monastery.  Although this intention was not welcomed by his superiors, on 15 July 1935 Fr. Ivan made the final decision to join the Redemptorist Congregation.

After completing his novitiate in Holosko (near Lviv) in 1936, Fr. Ziatyk was sent to Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk) and in 1937 he was transferred to Lviv.  There, he was appointed community bursar.  He was also on the faculty of the Redemptorist Seminary in Holosko, teaching scripture and dogmatic theology.

From 1941-1944 Fr. Ziatyk was superior of the monastery of Dormition of Mother of God in Ternopil, and from 1944-1946 he was superior of the monastery of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Zboiska (near Lviv).

The end of World War II was the beginning of a terrible period in the history of Ukraine, of the Greek-Catholic Church, and of the Lviv Province of the Redemptorists.  Having arrested all the Greek Catholic bishops, in the spring of 1946 Soviet secret police gathered Redemptorists from Ternopil, Stanislaviv, Lviv, and Zboiska to Holosko, and placed them in a non-heated wing of the monastery.  Fr. Ziatyk was among those gathered in Holosko.  The Redemptorists were detained stayed there for two years and under the constant surveillance of the secret police.  They were often taken for interrogation, in the course of which they were promised various benefits in exchange for betrayal of their faith and religious vocation.  On 17th October 1948 all the Redemptorists staying in Holosko were told to board trucks, which transported them to the Studite monastery in Univ.

Soon thereafter, the Redemptorist Provincial Fr. Joseph De Vocht was deported to Belgium.  Before his departure, he transferred his duties of Provincial of the Lviv Province and of Vicar General of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church to Fr. Ivan Ziatyk.  This caused the police to pay special attention to Fr. Ziatyk.  On 5th January 1950 a decision was made to arrest him, and on 20th January the warrant was issued.  After numerous interrogations, on 4th February 1950 he was accused: "Ivan Ziatyk indeed has been a member of the Redemptorist order since 1936; he promotes the ideas of the Roman Pope of spreading the Catholic Faith among the nations of the whole world and of making all Catholics".

The investigation lasted for two years and Fr. Ziatyk spent the entire period in prison.  During the period from 4th July 1950 to 16th August 1951 alone, he was interrogated 38 times, while the total number of interrogations he underwent was 72.  Despite the cruel tortures that accompanied the interrogations, Fr. Ziatyk did not betray his faith and did not submit to the atheist regime, although his close relatives persuaded him to do so.

The verdict was announced to Fr. Ziatyk in Kiev on 21st November 1951.  He was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for "co-operating with anti-Soviet nationalistic organisation and anti-Soviet propaganda."  The term was to be served in the Ozernyi Lager prison camp near the town of Bratsk in Irkutsk region.

During his imprisonment, Fr. Ziatyk suffered terrible tortures.  According to witnesses, on Good Friday 1952 Fr. Ivan Ziatyk was heavily beaten with sticks, soaked in water, and left unconscious outside, in the Siberian frost.  Beating and cold caused his death in a prison hospital three days later.  Fr. Ziatyk was buried in the Taishet district of Irkutsk region.  The Great Architect laid another precious tile into the great mosaic of martyrdom.

Pope John Paul II beatified Fr. Ivan Ziatyk in Lviv, on 27th June 2001.