On May 23, 2023, the Permanent Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) commenced its sessions in Wrocław, Poland. The primary focus of the participants is to study the successful practices of the Przemyśl-Warsaw Metropolis and Poland in providing assistance to refugees from Ukraine.
This was reported by the Information Department of the UGCC.
Under the leadership of the Head of the UGCC, Sviatoslav, the meetings aim to establish guidelines for the upcoming Great Synod of Bishops of the UGCC scheduled for September. The central theme of this significant event will revolve around the pastoral care of immigrants and war refugees. Poland was chosen as the venue due to its current status as the host country for approximately 3 million Ukrainian refugees.
The sessions of the Permanent Synod commenced with a collective prayer and a warm welcome from His Beatitude Sviatoslav. The Head of the UGCC expressed mutual joy about the opportunity for an in-person meeting, as all previous Synod gatherings since July 2022 had been held online due to the Russian war against Ukraine.
Distinguished bishops from various parts of the world attended the meeting: His Beatitude Sviatoslav arrived from the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv; Bishop Volodymyr Yuschak, the eparch of Wrocław-Koszalin, served as the nominal host and organizer of the sessions; Bishop Borys Gudziak, Archbishop and Metropolitan of Philadelphia, traveled from America; Bishop Bohdan Dziurakh, the Apostolic Exarch for Ukrainians of the Byzantine rite in Germany and Scandinavia, came from Munich; and Bishop Josaphat Moshchyshyn, the Eparch of Chernivtsi, joined from Chernivtsi. The secretary of the meetings was Bishop Andriy Khimyak, the Auxiliary Bishop of the UGCC Archeparchy of Kyiv and secretary of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC.