UGCC Head: Now the Greek Catholics face the most difficult – building Patriarchate

The fact that today the Greek Catholics are still facing the most difficult task – to build a patriarchate – was mentioned by the head of the UGCC on May 11 in Philadelphia, PA where these days he is on an official visit. Patriarch Sviatoslav took part in the celebration of the 45th anniversary of the "St Sophia" Society of Ukrainian Catholics in the United States. This partnership is doing a great job in restoring the Patriarchal Fund which should become the foundation for the building of the Patriarchate of the UGCC.

The fact that today the Greek Catholics are still facing the most difficult task – to build a patriarchate – was mentioned by the head of the UGCC on May 11 in Philadelphia, PA where these days he is on an official visit. Patriarch Sviatoslav took part in the celebration of the 45th anniversary of the "St Sophia" Society of Ukrainian Catholics in the United States. This partnership is doing a great job in restoring the Patriarchal Fund which should become the foundation for the building of the Patriarchate of the UGCC.

“It is important that we all join the setup of patriarchal structures because without this it will not be possible to fully comply with the will of Patriarch Iosyp,” the Primate emphasized.

“I ask myself and God: what does it mean for us to fulfill our mission? I look at the actions of Patriarch Iosyp Slipyi and I see that when he was released from Stalin’s concentration camps he set three goals for himself, that is, three types of incarnation of God's wisdom in the mission of his patriarchal ministry,” said the Primate. “The first task was the creation of an intellectual center, in particular the Ukrainian Catholic University in the name of St. Clement, the Pope of Rome; the re-establishment of the Studite monasticism; and the struggle for the patriarchy ... This is a peculiar spiritual testament of Patriarch Iosyp for us, his descendants. And this is in line with the goal and mission that the Lord entrusts to our Church while speaking through us to our people.”

Patriarch Sviatoslav recalled the efforts of his predecessor, His Beatitude Lubomyr (Husar), in constructing the Patriarchate of the UGCC. "His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar said that the Patriarchate is not an end in itself, but is primarily a tool (means) that we should be an united and powerful Church which feels itself as a united community and gathers in the scattering of the existing," said the Greek Catholic spiritual leader and added, "In order for us to successfully build a patriarchate, we need to bring our Church to a new level of its life and existence, - the level of communication, mutual respect and understanding, a shared responsibility for the fate of the Church and the people.”

In addition, in his speech, the Head of the UGCC also mentioned the current challenges in Ukraine. He believes that “we should build the patriarchate and extend our hand to the Orthodox brethren for unity.”