Faithful of the UGCC are invited to participate in the preparation of the future synod

On April 2, 2009, His Beatitude Lubomyr, Major Archbishop of Kyiv and Halych, signed a decree which, on the basis of the decision of last year's Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, proclaimed the convocation of the 2009 Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church. The synod will take place in Lviv - Bryukhovychi from November 29 to December 9. His Beatitude Lubomyr calls the faithful of the Church to pray that the preparation and conduct of the synod and its work be fruitful for the life of the UGCC.  As His Beatitude Lubomyr said, the main theme of the 2009 synod is evangelization. «Evangelization is sharing the faith with those who have not yet received it and with those in whom it has become weak. In the post-Soviet period we see that, for many people, the knowledge and understanding of God is very superficial. The task of the Church, while not forcing the divine word on anybody, is to present the truths of the faith. To help people understand their vocation and task in life,» the Head of the UGCC explained. In 2009, as well as from 2006 to 2008, the clergy and laity of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church are invited to participate in the preparation of the next Synod of Bishops of the UGCC. About this the Head of the UGCC, in particular, said: «In past years we have called priests, religious and lay people who are interested in expressing their thoughts on the theme of the synod to send their opinions to the secretariat of the synod. Many members of our Church have done this, for which we are very thankful to them. The secretariat familiarized itself with their suggestions and on their basis made a summary which was later given to all the bishops as part of the materials of the synod. Certain ideas indeed enriched our discussion.» As His Beatitude Lubomyr noted, this year, considering the positive experience, it has been decided to repeat such an attempt: «in fact the Holy Spirit operates in different ways and through different people… Therefore we invite the members of our Church, if they feel they have ideas which can help fruitfully develop the main theme of the synod, to express them in written form,» the Head of the UGCC said. We ask all those interested by September 30, 2009, to send their reflections to the address of the secretariat of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC (Riznyts’ka St. 11Á/28-29, city of Kyiv, 01001) or by e-mail: [email protected] with a note «About evangelization.»

Information Department of the UGCC