About the Forty-fourth Session of the Synod of Bishops of the Kyiv-Halych Major Archbishopric of the UGCC

At the residence of the Head of the UGCC in the village of Knyazhychi near Kyiv on April 23 and 24, 2009 A. D., the Forty-fourth Session of the Synod of Bishops of the Kyiv and Halych Major Archbishopric of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church took place. At the session meetings 17 members of the Metropolitan Synod and the bishop-designate for the Kyiv Archeparchy, Fr. Yosyf (Milyan), Studite, were present. During the synod meetings, in addition to procedural questions, the question of the status of implementation of the decisions of the Forty-third Session of the Metropolitan Synod was discussed, as was, in detail, the plan (road map) for the development of the information activity of our Church in Ukraine; the project of the program for fighting abortion in Ukraine was also considered. Talks were heard about the position of the Church regarding Greek-Catholic schools and the activity of the pension fund «Pokrova» (Protection), the necessity of its popularization, and planned measures for the subsequent development of its activity in the direction of transparency and availability. Also discussed were: the system of Church commissions in the UGCC; the restitution of Church property; the problem of bringing astrologers, witches and palm readers to the national classifier of professions in Ukraine; and the status of the construction of the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv. During the last two sessions the Metropolitan Synod considered the Resolutions of the Convention of the Laity, which took place on November 7-8, 2008 A. D. in Kyiv and confirmed the text of the address on this occasion. The synod considered the appeal of the director of the Institute of National Memory, Mister Ihor Yukhnovskyj, and a corresponding decision was made. The Synod also reacted to the decisions at the initiative of Ukrainian bankers in relation to the renewal in Ukraine of conducting the Day of Savings and to support the idea of conducting the action «Wise management of God’s gifts.»  On Friday April 24, all the members of the Metropolitan Synod took part in the festive proclamation of Blessed Martyr Fr. Emilian Kowcz as the patron of pastors of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, which took place at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv. It was decided to conduct the following, forty-fifth, session of the Metropolitan Synod in June 2009 A. D.

Secretariat of the Synod of
the Kyiv and Halych Major Archbishopric of the UGCC