On March 8-10, 2023, the Third (74th) Session of the Permanent Synod of the UGCC was held online.
This is reported by the Information Department of the UGCC.
The meetings were attended by: Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Sviatoslav Shevchuk,
Archbishop and Metropolitan of Philadelphia Vladyka Borys Gudziak,
Bishop Volodymyr Yushchak, Eparch of Wroclaw-Koszalin,
Bishop Yosafat Moshchych, Eparch of Chernivtsi,
Apostolic Exarch for Ukrainians of the Byzantine rite in Germany and Scandinavia, Bishop Bohdan Dziurakh.
The secretary of the meetings was Auxiliary Bishop Andriy Khimyak of the Kyiv Archeparchy.
The first meeting, held on March 8, began with prayer and the adoption of the agenda of this session. The bishops checked the status of the implementation of the decisions of the previous session of the Permanent Synod and highlighted the military, humanitarian and pastoral situation in Ukraine. The Synod participants paid special attention to the current challenges in the service of the church to the most needy.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav emphasized the important role of the UGCC in healing the wounds of war: for the healing of physical wounds, the Church is called to develop medical chaplaincy today, for psychological support to become a partner for state and public organizations, and for the healing of spiritual wounds to be a real "field hospital", according to the definition of Pope Francis, embracing all segments of the Ukrainian population.
After that, one of the representatives of the UGCC at the continental stage of the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church in Prague, Czech Republic, Bishop Theodor Martynyuk, spoke about its course and results.
The second working session was devoted to the next synod of Bishops of the UGCC.
First of all, the bishops discussed the status of the implementation of the decisions of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC in 2022, which was held in Przemysl (Poland). Therefore, proposals were discussed on the place and time of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC in 2023.
At the end of the meeting, Bishop David Motyuk, Chairman of the Patriarchal Catechetical Commission, and his deputy Nazar Duda presented a report on the commission's activities and the state of catechetical service during the war.
The second day of meetings of the permanent Synod of the UGCC began with a discussion of the main topic of the next Synod of Bishops of the UGCC: "Pastoral Support of the Victims of War". The participants of the Synod in Przemyśl entrusted its preparation to Bishop Arkady Trokhanovsky, the Bishop of Olsztyn-Gdańsk.
Reporting on the current situation, Bishop Borys Gudziak, head of the Department for External Church Relations of the UGCC, once again emphasized that today Ukraine is the focus of the world's attention, and efforts should be made to ensure that this attention and support does not subside. The world admires Ukraine's desperate resistance and defense of democratic values, for which Ukrainians are willing to pay the highest price — the sacrifice of their own lives.
The second day of meetings ended with the presentation of the following titles of the future code of canons of the UGCC, which is led by Bishop Yevhen Popovych, Archbishop and Metropolitan of Przemysl-Warsaw. Fr. Oleg Khortyk presented the title "Eparchies and Bishops", Fr. Roman Dutchak presented the title "On the Holy Mysteries", and Fr. Roman Terekhovsky - the title "On Blessing".
The fifth meeting held on Friday, March 10, began with the continuation of consideration of canonical issues. Father Andriy Tanasiychuk presented the draft Statute and Regulations of the Patriarchal Council, and Fr. Vitaly Tokar spoke about the participation of the emeritus bishop in the Metropolitan Synod.
Afterwards, the members of the Permanent Synod of the UGCC listened to and accepted the reports of the Pastoral Council of the Patriarchal Curia of the UGCC from Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, its Chairman, and the Theological Department from its head, Bishop Yaroslav Pryriz.
During the sixth (final) meeting, Bishop Hryhoriy Komar, Auxiliary Bishop of the UGCC Eparchy of Sambir-Drohobych and Chairman of the Patriarchal Liturgical Commission, reported on the status of the implementation of the calendar reform, which was announced by the Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, on February 6. The bishop also emphasized that the commission's work on the draft Missal of the UGCC is ongoing.
The meetings traditionally ended with a discussion of the next sessions of the permanent Synod of the UGCC and gratitude to God for the fruitful holding of the third (74th) session of the permanent Synod of the UGCC.