His Beatitude Gregory III, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Alexandria and Jerusalem of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, in his speech to the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which is now ongoing in Bryukhovychi, proposed steps how to “strengthen our unity, our communion of the Church.”
Patriarch Gregory III considers his “synodal” visit a blessing for both Churches. Patriarch voiced actual proposals, “which resonate with the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church regarding communion and witness of the Church in the Middle East.” The first thing that the Patriarch offers to Ukrainian Greek Catholics is setting up a permanent body for working communication between the two churches that are the most numerous among the Greek Catholic Churches. Second - to work together on the establishment of the Assembly of the Greek Catholic Church, which could be very useful for the development of our churches within the communion with Rome. Third – to set up a joint commission to study the provisions of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEC), which are important for our churches, including the ecclesiology, rights of Patriarchs etc. Regarding the fourth proposal, the Head of the Melkite Church said that he founded a large seminary in the Holy Land in Beit Sahuri, near Bethlehem, that can accommodate 25 seminarians. “Today the Seminary is empty because I cannot send there the Arab seminarians. I can offer it for your Church’s usage,” Patriarch Gregory III suggests. He also has proposed to work together on convening the Extraordinary Synod of the Greek Catholic Churches to strengthen the role of churches in communion with Rome, to strengthen relations between our Churches and Rome, as well as with the Orthodox Churches. The head of Meklkite Church offers to form a commission of Eastern and Latin theologians, familiar with the Eastern tradition. The purpose of this commission is to explain the role of the Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine Greek tradition, particularly in ecclesiastical terms, and their relationship with Rome as part of our full communion with the Church that “presides in charity.” In addition, the Patriarch has reported to the Synod of Bishops on the situation in Syria, where the war is ongoing for six consequent years. “About one hundred and fifty churches have been destroyed or severely damaged. Thousands of homes have turned into ruins. About five hundred thousand of our faithful have been forced out of their homes, their villages. We are experiencing a real immigration tsunami that leaves in our communities no stone unturned... all Syrian citizens are going along this cross road,” he said.
The distinguished guest noted that as pastors, they performed their work to the best of their ability. “The theme of this session of your Holy Synod is diakonia – the service to one another. The life of our patriarchal Church is an ongoing diakonia. We permanently care about making our diakonia consistent with the scope of the terrible tragedy of our people. We are knocking on all doors for help to provide daily basic needs. We are rebuilding our churches, catechetical centers and war-torn premises for our faithful. However, poverty is a great disaster, which affects all,” Patriarch Gregory III said. This was reported by the Information Department of the UGCC.