The members of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on 8 September considered the question of organization of the Patriarchal Council of 2011 which is to be held in the Brazilian city of Prudentopolis.
“The Patriarchal Council is convened by the head of the Church in order for the whole Church in its fullness to meditate on the place and role of the persons dedicated to God who are now faced with new challenges and difficulties. We want to help the dedicated persons to fulfil God’s calling and the Church’s task entrusted to them,” noted the Secretary of the Synod of Bishops of UGCC, Bishop Bohdan (Dziurakh),
According to the department of information of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the question of evangelization became another issue considered by the bishops on the seventh day of the work of the Synod of UGCC.
According to Bishop Bohdan, the Synod of Bishops of UGCC has considered this subject from various angles for a few years now. This year, the statutes of the Patriarchal Committee on Matters of Evangelization was finally approved. Two projects were considered within the framework of the question of evangelization. The first project is the publication of the Catechism of UGCC. The preparation of the text is now at the final stage.
“The bishops will consider it. Final comments will be made and we hope that during the next year, the final positive decision will be made and the catechism will appear. We treat the question of the publication of the catechism with a tremendous responsibility. It is the textbook of our faith, which never appeared in the history of our Church,” stressed the Secretary of the Synod.
The second project discussed by the bishops is the question of the return to the practice of catechumenate which was used by the early Christians. “We have come across the post-soviet reality that many people are baptized but are not integrated in the life of the church community as they did not get to know their faith deeper. We want to help these people to consciously accept the obligations following from the sacrament of the Baptism and to live by them. The practice of the early Christianity known to us as the catechumenate becomes a valuable help to us, stressed the bishop.
The work team, Catechetical Committee and Catechetical-Pedagogical Institute of UCU were entrusted with the task to continue the work in this regard. “we hope that at the next Synod, steps to introduce the practice of catechumanate in the pastoral care of our Church will be presented,” noted Bishop Bohdan.