New Bishop of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Ordained

The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Patriarch Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), on September 18 ordained the Apostolic Administrator of the Buchach Eparchy of UGCC, Fr. Dmytro Hryhorak, eparch of Buchach.

On September 17, the bishop was nominated and on September 18, the bishop’s ordination was administered in the town of Chortkiv, the Information Department of UGCC reported.

The ordination was attended by the members of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, and over 150 priests, monastics and lay people, as well as representatives of the local authorities.

In the end of the liturgy, the new eparch of Buchach was enthroned.

Fr. (now Bishop) Dmytro served as the Apostolic Administrator of the Buchach Eparchy for four years. From November 2000 to July 2007, the eparchy was headed by Bishop Irynei (Bilyk), who is now a canon of the Papal Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore.

The Buchach Eparchy of the UGCC includes 14 deaneries. Its area is 5,466 square kilometers. According to official statistics, as of 2002, 328,000 Greek Catholics lived in the territory of the eparchy; 190 priests serve in 314 parishes. There are three men’s and two women’s monasteries in the eparchy.