Mission of UGCC today it to testify to church unity around the See of Apostle Peter’s successor, says Head of UGCC

Celebrations on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of Hieromartyr Symeon Lukach in his native village of Staruny, where he performed his service in the underground period of the UGCC, lasted for two days from April 28-29, and included a presentation of a biographical film, a series of solemn liturgies, night prayers and the Hierarchical Liturgy with participation Head of the UGCC, Patriarch Svyatoslav (Shevchuk). During the celebrations the Head of the UGCC raised important issues: the unity of Christians and the mission of the UGCC, RISU journalist Natalia Paliy has reported.

On April 29, Patriarch Svyatoslav (Shevchuk) of the UGCC, in concelebration with the archbishops of the UGCC served the hierarchical Liturgy in Staryna. In the speech, the first hierarch emphasized that the ministry of Simeon Lukach gives today's generation an example of how to take responsibility for themselves and change the world for the better. The UGCC has a specific mission toay and Patriarch Sviatoslav pointed out this mission.

“Today, we, in the entire fullness of our Church, the episcopate, clergy, monastics and the faithful, arrived here, in the village of Starunya, in Boykivshchyna, to praise the Lord as pilgrims and worship the land that gives birth to the heroes of Christian life and faith,” said the Head of the UGCC . “To glorify the heroes who saved in the most difficult times the soul of our people. What we call is to be ourselves. We came to thank the family who gave our Church and our people a great ascetic, an underground bishop, the passionate bearer of Hieromartyr Simeon Lukacs. We want to thank the Lord God for having a Church, faith in God, which we have been saved and passed on to us. And the martyr's figure is like a sign, a symbol that today continues to revitalize, bring us together and inspire us. When Bishop Lukach came to serve here, Starunya, like the entire Ukrainian land, was oppressed by a communist regime, which aspired to turn everyone into people without hope. And Simeon Lukach became the one who passed the grace of the Holy Spirit, giving people hope.”

Head of the UGCC continued: “Very often, the powerful of this world are willing to take away hope from us, transform us into people who live like a relaxed one. How many people lose hope that something can ever be done. Through the blessed Hieromartyr Lukac, the Lord tells us to get up and take responsibility for the fate of the Church and the people, not to be afraid of responsibility and to change the world by God's power.”

In his speech, Patriarch Sviatoslav also spoke about the unity of Christians and the significance of the UGCC today.

“So many have recently been talking about the unity of Christians. Someone even wants to create the One Local Church. But the question is - where do you get that unity? What idea of ​​the unity of the Church left us Christians, Jesus Christ himself, of the third millennium? The Blessed Lukach gives us an answer: “The banner of the Church is not the president, not another patriarch, but the heir to the apostle Peter - the Holy Father, the Pope. For this, the Holy Martyr has suffered. Because he also had very tempting offers – he had to sign and he would be well-off. He was offered to break the unity that Christ left our Church during the days of Prince Volodymyr and until the separation. Now our Greek Catholic Church is responsible to the heirs, and its mission is to testify to the life-giving unity of the Church around the heir of the Apostle Peter. This is the word of Bishop Lukach to us. For, according to the Lord, we have to rise, change the world around us and cherish the ancestral faith. We will pray for Ukraine so that we, as successors of Bishop Lukach, and as the only bearers of change in Ukraine, saw and understood that our hope in n God and its strength are as a Church that has resurrected after martyrdom and confession. By its strength we must take responsibility for the future of our people and must change the world. Blessed is the holy martyr Simeon, pray for us.”

After the Hierarchical Liturgy, Patriarch Sviatoslav solemnly blessed the Museum of Hieromartyr Simeon Lukach, restored in his family hut in Boykivshchyna. Exhibits of the museum are personal liturgical objects of the bishop and objects relating to the underground period of the UGCC.