His Beatidude Gregorios III Laham Patriarch Of Antioch, Alexandya, and Jerusalem attended the enthronement of the new Major Archbishop Kyiv-Halych of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk).
Greeting new head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, he expressed his hope for future cooperation of the two churches. "I think that the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church are both called to play a very significant role in ecumenical work, since they are the two largest churches of the Byzantine rite (Greek and Slavonic) in communion with Rome," said the patriarch.
He also expressed gratitude to Patriarch Lubomyr for years of his service. He said: "I am very happy at how the ecclesial, brotherly communion between our two (Ukrainian Greek Catholic and Melkite Greek Catholic) churches has developed, largely due to a long-standing friendship (of more than twenty years) with our dear brother and friend, His Most Eminent Beatitude Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, that great hero of the Christian East, its tradition, heritage and ecumenical mission! He will always be known as a Father of this Church of yours and a great defender of the ecumenical mission of the Eastern Catholic Churches, that are in full communion with the Church of Rome that presides in charity and with the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, (who showed his love for the Christian East by holding the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops), while remaining faithful to the Eastern tradition and maintaining cordial relations with the Orthodox Churches that are our sisters, ever present in all ecumenical work."