Working sessions of the UGCC Synod ongoing

03.09.2018, 11:26
On September 2, the Holy Synod of the Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church began the Patriarchal Bishops' Liturgy in Lviv at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of St. George.

On September 2, the Holy Synod of the Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church began the Patriarchal Bishops' Liturgy in Lviv at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of St. George.

The worship for the beginning of the Synod was led by Patriarch Sviatoslav in the co-celebration of the representative of the Holy Father, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, Apostolic Nuncio in Ukraine, Archbishop and Metropolitan of Lviv Igor (Vozniak), and other bishops – members of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. This is reported by the Lviv Archdiocese of the UGCC.

As Patriarch Sviatoslav noted during the sermon before the Synod’s opening, this year's theme of the Synod was devoted to the Word of God and catechization.

The Bishops of the UGCC will consider how the UGCC teaches and proclaims the word of the Holy Gospel, in what way Ukrainian Greek Catholics draw from the Word of God for their daily lives and live it, how much they know and how they are capable to pray and how well they know and adhere to the moral and spiritual principles of Christian life. The members of the Synod will discuss how the catechism is being taught, whether there are catechetical schools in the parishes, and whether the UGCC has well-prepared catechesis programs.

“Catechism is not only a certain course, the program of religion for children. People in all age groups need to be accompanied by their bishops, priests, monks, nuns, in order to better understand God's truths in all circumstances of their lives, therefore this Synod will be of great importance to the life of every Greek Catholic Ukrainian, no matter where they live in the world,” they stress in the UGCC.

The Assistant Bishop of the Lviv Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine, His Eminence Edward Kava, Exarch Nil of Greek Catholics in Greece, and the representative of the Episcopal Conference of the Roman Catholic Church in France, Bishop Roland, also attended the liturgy. Participating in the liturgy was Bishop Igor (Isichenko), Archbishop of the Kharkiv-Poltava Diocese of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.

The Synod will be held in Lviv-Bryukhovychi during ten days and will end on September 12, 2018.

In Bryukhovychi, before the Synod's working meetings started, the bishops of the UGCC had prayed to the Holy Spirit and swore an oath. The working session continues.