UGCC Bishop serves first Liturgy in South Africa
Bishop Joseph (Milian), head of the Pastoral and Migration Department of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, led the Liturgy for Ukrainians in Pretoria. Concelebrating with him was secretary of the PMD Fr. Andriy Gakh. This is the first Divine service served by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic bishop in the territory of the Republic of South Africa. This is reported by the Department of Information of the UGCC.
During the sermon, Bishop Joseph noted, “Today, the Gospel teaches us that the soul, the eternity, all elevated and spiritual matters will be acquired through our efforts – the power of love, wisdom, and patience. If our church and national predecessors were not heroes, we could not carry our cross, we would be another people, a different country.”
The bishop stressed that prayer is a dialogue, a conversation with God. And parents should teach this dialogue to children. “Why does the society today not know how to pray, does not feel the need? Because parents mostly care about feeding, upbringing, teaching children, but very little of a dialogue. And such a dialogue is very important,” said the bishop. “Today, we pray for the grace of God, that God be patient to our sins, to our people, and bless us as a state, as a nation, by resurrection to a better tomorrow, for a better future.”
The Ambassador of Ukraine to South Africa Taras Kuzmych took part in the Liturgy.
The PMD delegation arrived in South Africa to establish a community of the UGCC, the first one on the African continent. The head of the PMD plans to visit some of South Africa's largest cities (Cape Town, Johannesburg and Pretoria) with the pastoral visit.
