 Born in Donji Andrijevci, Austria-Hungary (present-day Croatia) in the Ruthenian family of Dionisije and Julija Bukatko in 1913, he was ordained a priest on 2 April 1939 by Bishop Dionisije Njaradi for the Eparchy of Križevci.Fr.Bukatko was the Rector of Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Križevci from 1941 to 1950.