Permanent Synod of the UGCC convened in Kyiv
The Permanent Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has started its regular meeting in Kyiv on February 11. This is reported by the Department of Information of the UGCC.
All members of the Permanent Synod of the UGCC take part in the synodal sessions: Patriarch Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), Bishop Eugene (Popovych), Archbishop and Metropolitan of Przemysl and Warsaw, Bishop Bohdan (Danylo), Eparch of Parma, Bishop Borys (Gudzyak), Eparch of the Paris diocese of St. Volodymyr the Great, Bishop Theodore (Martyniuk), Assistant Bishop of Ternopil-Zboriv diocese.
The first part of the synodal meetings was devoted to the preparation for the next Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which will be held in Rome (Italy) on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of consecration of St Sophia Cathedral.
On September 1 2019, the Divine Liturgy will be led by Patriarch Sviatoslav with the participation of the Episcopate, clergy, monks and nuns and laity.
The secretary of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, Bohdan (Dziurakh) emphasizes the exclusivity of this future event for the churches, “This all-church pilgrimage is intended to express gratitude to God for the resurrection of our Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and its withdrawal from the underground, for the gift of freedom and the opportunity today to freely "build a homeland.
It is also an opportunity to build internal church unity among all its members: clergy, monks and nuns and lay people; it is an opportunity to demonstrate our loyalty to the Apostle Peter’s successor, which is part of the ecclesial identity of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which was worthily witnessed by the blessed martyrs of the 20th century, and their predecessors, namely, the Martyrs of Pratulin, and a great number of persons unknown to us but known to God.
Therefore, we ask all our eparchies, exarchs and pilgrimage centers to organize this pilgrimage for the sake of a joint all-church prayer at the Church of St. Sophia on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its consecration.”
One more planned event of this regional Synod of Bishops of the UGCC was the commemoration of the 150th anniversary of birth and the 100th anniversary of death of the Blessed Joshaphata Hordashevska to be held in Rome.
On September 5 at 15:00, in the Pontifical Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, the Divine Liturgy will be held with the participation of the Episcopate of the UGCC, headed by His Beatitude Svyatoslav.
We are trying to ensure that the Permanent Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is a group of bishops acting on behalf of the Patriarchal Synod as an advisory body for the Head of Church. The Permanent Synod consists of the Patriarch of the UGCC, who is its chairperson, and four bishops appointed for five years. One of these bishops is appointed by the head of the UGCC, and the other three, including the obligation to be diocesan bishops, are elected by the bishops' council by secret ballot.
