The Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) for the year 2023 has concluded in Rome, Italy. It took place from September 3 to September 13 at the Ukrainian Papal College of Saint Josaphat. The main theme of the Synod was "Pastoral Care for the Victims of War." This Synod was the largest of its kind for the UGCC, with the participation of 45 bishops, including the nominated bishop of the New Westminster Eparchy.
This was reported by the Information Department of the UGCC.
"The Synod of Bishops is not only a moment of meeting and intensive work but also a profound prayer experience," said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, the bishop of the Eparchy of the Holy Family with a residence in London, United Kingdom, shared his impressions of this year's Synod: "Our faithful are currently concentrated in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain. This Synod seems very successful to me. We had the opportunity to meet not only with Pope Francis but also with many of his collaborators in various dicasteries. We also had a meeting with our former Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti. It seems to me that these conversations were very open and sincere. We informed His Holiness about what concerns us. He listened to us. For me, this was a significant step on his part to heal the wounds that we are currently feeling. So, I return to Great Britain to our Eparchy with great hope and optimism," the bishop said.
Regarding the uniqueness of this year's gathering, Bishop Kenneth pointed out that 45 bishops participated, which is a significant number. "This is a large number. I think that under the leadership of His Beatitude Sviatoslav, we are increasingly developing our Church not only in Ukraine but worldwide. I feel that our bishops are united, and we are building unity within our global Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church," said the bishop of the London Eparchy.