Patriarch Sviatoslav Addresses Catholic Bishops of Canada
On September 25, in Saint Gabriel, Canada, Patriarch Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) addressed the Catholic Bishops of Canada who gathered to attend their annual meeting in Montreal.
The patriarch told the 70 bishops of the Catholic Church in Canada about the persecutions of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church during Communist times.
As he spoke about the present time, the primate stressed: “Being fully aware of our definition of being Orthodox in the faith and Catholic in love, we realize our role in creating an opportunity for the Catholic Church to breathe with the two lungs, the eastern and western ones.”
“Today, we are renewing the life of our church in a country which appears to be torn apart between the old influences and new attempts to be integrated in the wider European community,” said Patriarch Sviatoslav.
The head of the UGCC stressed that the church must find “new boldness” to proclaim the truths of the Gospel to the modern society in order to give it “anchor and compass.”
In the end, the hierarch thanked the Canadian bishops for their brotherly cooperation. “My Ukrainian brethren who are bishops in Canada are very grateful to you for your support and understanding enjoyed by our church all over Canada. It is not always so in other parts of the world, particularly in European countries. Therefore, it is so important for us to spread the Canadian experience testifying that the presence of the Eastern Churches with their traditions and structures is not a danger but is the brotherhood of the community of the Catholic Church, the unity in diversity,” said Patriarch Sviatoslav.
The head of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton, on behalf of all of them, thanked the head of the UGCC for his participation in the assembly and assured him and the faithful of the UGCC of the support and prayer of the bishops of Canada.
Patriarch Sviatoslav arrived in Canada on August 29. During his stay there, he made pastoral visits to the faithful of UGCC in the New-Westminster Eparchy. In Manitoba, he met with the faithful of the Winnipeg Archeparchy. On September 9-15, the hierarch led the Synod of Bishops of UGC. After the synod, he visited the faithful of the Saskatoon Eparchy, the Information Department of the UGCC reported.
