Brief Report on Activity of UGCC Commissions in First Quarter of 2010 Published

On 21 March, 2010, the Information Department of UGCC published a Brief Report on the activity of UGCC commissions in the first quarter of 2010. On March 16, 2010, a meeting of the heads of the commissions of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), which was led by Father Petro Rak, head of Department of Church Commissions, was held in the conference hall of the Lviv Archeparchy. After the joint prayer, each of the participants of the meeting reported about their work in the last quarter and shared plans for future activity.

In particular Hryhorii Seleschuk, head of Commission of the UGCC on Matters of Immigrants, described the newly-created migration portal (www.navihator.net) which in the course of two months was visited by about 17 thousand people. Due to the active participation of Ukrainians around the world, the commission successfully collected signatures in support of a bill which would allow Ukrainian workers abroad to use their own means of transport to visit Ukraine for holidays. The proposition was heard, and the bill was passed.

The main event of the Commission on Matters of Primary Education is the creation of an information methodical center in Drohobych. The meeting of directors of Catholic schools took place in February, reported Father Ivan Gnativ, the head of the commission. A festival of student creative works will be held in April.

Also, the children’s festival, already at the international level, is being organized by participants of the Patriarchal Catechetical Commission. The deputy chairperson Sister Luiza (Tsiupa) shared the direction of work for the organization: catechetical seminars; work in the eparchies of Lviv, Kyiv, Donetsk; programs for Christian summer camps, in particular with the mentally ill. At the same time, the members of the commission are presently preparing for the conduction of the conference “The Word of God in Life and the Mission of the Church in Ukraine.” The conference will take place in May 2010 in Lviv and Kyiv.

Maria Kozhukh, head of the Commission on Matters of the Family, announced an informative-analytical event called “Life Belongs to God,” which is planned for April 1 and devoted to the fifth anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II. On March 20 the same commission will conduct a retreat for the wives of priests to popularize Church studies in the field of domestic difficulties.

Work on the textbook “Ecumenical Directory” is the main merit of the Commission for Promoting Christian Unity. In addition, in Lviv, Kharkiv, Odesa, and Kyiv the activists of the commission held Weeks of Prayer for Christian Unity. 

The Commission on Matters of Evangelization is working on the Synod Document about Evangelization. Taras Tymo of the Patriarchal Liturgical Commission informed about the start of the project of translating the Liturgical Psalter.

In the speech of sister Symeona (Germak), secretary of the Commission on Matters of Monasticism, emphasized the necessity of presenting monastic communities on the radio and television.

Additionally, Yurii Pidlisnyi, head of the Commission on Matters of the Laity, brought up the need to revive the life of parishes in villages and towns. In order to address this problem, several trainings are planned for the heads of eparchies’ commissions and representatives of laity communities of the UGCC for the end of July. The Commission of the UGCC on matters of Pastoral Health Care conducts many seminars and other events. One of their biggest prospects is the publication of a textbook for medical chaplains.

Above all, the representatives of the church commissions of the UGCC met out of the necessity to work in cooperation and to plan the next meeting that will take place in June. In conclusion, Fr. Petro Rak invited the present heads and workers of the commissions to the Day of Spiritual Retreat that will take place on March 23 in Briukhovychi in the retreat center of the Lviv Archeparchy. The spiritual leader of the retreat will be Bishop Bohdan (Dziurakh), head of the Administration of the Patriarchal Curia of UGCC.