His Beatitude Lubomyr Cardinal Husar, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), received a group of pastors of the Lutheran Church headed by Helga Troesken, bishop of Hessen and Nassau, Germany. The meeting occurred on 29 October 2001 at the cardinal’s metropolitan palace in Lviv. The guests from Germany were visiting Lutheran communities in western Ukraine during the week of 23 to 30 October to get better acquainted with the local religious situation.
During the unofficial talk with Cardinal Husar, the representatives of the Lutheran Church expressed their surprise at the incredible burst of religious revival in Ukraine. The cardinal thanked his guests for their high praise, but emphasized that we shouldn’t let the statistics deceive us. Destructive and demoralizing influences that remain from the totalitarian regime continue to be felt very strongly. Our common Christian obligation ought to be “the reconstruction of the human soul,” the formation of a new generation which will be able to give worthy responses to the newest challenges of the times. His Beatitude also noted that the resolution of all conflicts should always begin with the renewal of the internal integration of each person. In addition, the German Lutherans met with representatives of the Jewish community in Lviv. They also took a lively interest in the status of theological education in Ukraine, in particular in the development of the Lviv Theological Academy, the basis of the developing Ukrainian Catholic University. Information supplied by the UGCC press service, www.ugcc.org.ua.