Residents of Portugal and Spain took part in a historic event for the life of the Ukrainian community in the Pyrenees – the consecration of the cornerstone for the construction of the church and monastery of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in the pilgrimage center of the Portuguese city of Fatima.
SUM Global announced this on Facebook on November 14. Together with numerous pilgrims from Portugal, Spain, France and Italy, the members of the sum prayed for the good of Ukraine and its people.
The rite of blessing of the cornerstone was performed by the chairman of the pastoral and Migration Department of the UGCC, general chaplain of SUM Bishop Stepan Sus and Bishop of Leiria-Fatima Cardinal Antonio Marto.
"This is an event that we will be able to evaluate over time. I am pleased that so many of us have gathered for prayer today and that we are participants in the creation of new history – our Ukrainian community, monastery and church here in Fatima. In a few years, we will come here to thank God for having a temple and a monastery here. And probably each of us present here should draw up our own "brick" so that these churches and monasteries can be built as quickly as possible," Bishop Stepan addressed the audience.
After the liturgy, the SUM members held their own organizational meeting, during which they discussed the current course of the SUM case in Spain and Portugal, as well as planned joint projects.
"The repeated meeting of SUM members with Bishop Stepan sous was sincere and warm.
The general chaplain of the Union of Ukrainian Youth (SUM) blessed the members and stressed the importance of the activities and development of Ukrainian youth organizations abroad," the report says.