As part of the celebrations of the enthronement of Bishop Borys Gudziak as head of the Archeparchy of Philadelphia, Patriarch of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Metropolitan Borys, bishops and clergy of the Philadelphia Archeparchy held a meeting on June 5.
As part of the celebrations of the enthronement of Bishop Borys Gudziak as head of the Archeparchy of Philadelphia, Patriarch of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Metropolitan Borys, bishops and clergy of the Philadelphia Archeparchy held a meeting on June 5.
It is reported by the Information Department of the UGCC.
At the beginning of the meeting, His Eminence Borys thanked everyone for their participation in the Liturgy and the enthronement ceremony, which took place on June 4, and thanked them for their prayer. He said special words of gratitude to His Beatitude Sviatoslav both for his presence at the celebrations and for the leadership of the Church, "it was not always the case that peace and harmony reign in the Church."
The head of the UGCC noted in his speech that this meeting was planned not to say something to the priests, but to listen to them. Therefore, he invited the participants to a sincere brotherly conversation.
"We all hope that our Church in America will enter a new stage in its history, and I would like it so much to be a period of renewal. But this renewal is impossible without collaboration. Therefore, taking this opportunity, I want to invite everyone to a joint discussion to search for ways of development," said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
"I have repeatedly heard that there is no vision of the future of our Church on this continent and we need to prepare for the "sweet death". But I object. For we are called not to kill, but to build, to develop. Therefore, let us think together what to do, how to act so that we have life," said the Head of the UGCC.
Thus, a truly brotherly and sincere conversation took place. The spiritual leaders raised the question of the language of worship and the language of the Church and whether it is necessary to be Ukrainian to be a member of the UGCC. They also spoke about the priests' zeal, about their active service not only of the liturgies, but also about about their activities in other areas of parish life. According to the priests, it is also important to feel the guidance of the bishop, which is based not on the administrative, but on the parental approach. Another aspect is the issue of internal solidarity.
After all those willing took floor, His Beatitude Sviatoslav said the final word. He thanked the priests for their service to God, the Church and the people for choosing this mission and this ministry. "Today, I want to thank you on behalf of your mother Church, to whom you have dedicated your life. I want to thank you for your work, for all that you give for the good of God's people," said the Head of the UGCC" He also asked the pastors to read the book of the blessed Martyr Yemelyan Kovch Why Do Our People Run Away From Us?
The meeting ended with the presentation of the pastoral plan of the diocese of St. Volodymyr in France, which had been developed throughout several years during joint discussions, discussions of the clergy and laity of this diocese.