"During the election of the new head of UGCC, the bishops will not be allowed to leave the building, receive guests or talk on cell phones," Bishop Bohdan Dziurakh, the secretary of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), told RISU when asked whether the participants of the electoral synod of the UGCC will be protected from external influences as they were during the last election of the Most Holy Father.
According to Bishop Bohdan, at the synod they will not use the equipment to neutralize radio waves, as was done in the Vatican, but the bishops will be asked not to contact the outside world. "The technical personnel will also take an oath of secrecy," added the secretary of the Synod of Bishops.
According to the administrator of UGCC, Archbishop Ihor Vozniak, no attempts to influence the members’ choice have been recorded. In answer to RISU's question whether politicians and representatives of other churches are putting such pressure on the bishops in view of the authority of the last head of the UGCC, Patriarch Lubomyr (Husar), and the social significance of future head of one of the largest churches of Ukraine, the administrator noted that there is no pressure so far and that there is only some interest.
In answer to the question whether there will be any independents among the aspirants to the highest seat of the UGCC, Archbishop Ihor noted: "Each of us considers others better than himself." According to the head of the Legal Department of the Patriarchal Curia, Fr. Vitalii Tokar, Ph.D., the particular law envisages inclusion of all the participants of the synod in the list of the candidates. According to him, a candidate must be at least 40 years old and have at least 10 years of experience as a priest to become the supreme archbishop of UGCC. The election quorum is constituted by two thirds of the bishops who are to participate in the Synod.
"Everyone is invited but not everyone must participate. Bishops emeriti are not bound but they can be present," explained Fr. Tokar. According to him, after the bishops make their choice, the elected person will have two days for reflection: "If that person continues to be silent after two days, the election will start again. If he agrees, he must send a letter to Most Holy Father requesting to approve his candidacy," he noted.
According to Bishop Bohdan, as of today, of the 50 Greek Catholic bishops there are 15 bishops emeriti. The oldest of them, Bishop Inokentii Lototskyi from the United States is 95. The youngest Greek Catholic hierarch is the Apostolic Administrator of the UGCC Eparchy in Argentina, Bishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, who is 40. "Most of the bishops were consecrated under His Beatitude Lubomyr," noted the secretary of the Synod of Bishops of UGCC.
As RISU reported earlier, the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church which is to elect the Supreme Archbishop will begin on March 21 in the Patriarch Josyf Slipyj Recollection Center in Briukhovychi, Lviv.
On February 10, at a press conference in Kyiv, Patriarch Lubomyr reported that Pope Benedict XVI accepted his abdication of the position of the supreme archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The head of UGCC submitted the request at the age of 75. Patriarch Lubomyr headed the UGCC for ten years.