Head of the UGCC led nationwide pilgrimage of clergy to Peremyshlyany in Lviv region

On May 11, 2012, bishops, clergy and laity of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church gathered for a nationwide pilgrimage to the city of Peremyshlyany in the Lviv region. The pilgrimage, headed by Patriarch Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) was dedicated to the Blessed Priest Omelyan Kovch, a long-time pastor of the city. He became a martyr on March 25, 1944, in the Majdanek concentration camp. “Father Omelyan’s ministry to people of all ages, nationalities and religious beliefs demonstrates his righteousness.  He served his neighbors, despite the circumstances. In each person he saw God's image. The Jews called him a righteous person of Ukraine, Poles a pastor of Majdanek, and the Synod of Bishops declared him the patron saint of Greek Catholic priests in Ukraine," Bishop Venedykt (Aleksiychuk), Auxiliary Bishop of the Lviv Archeparchy, said during a service in one of the churches in Peremyshliany. In his sermon, His Beatitude Sviatoslav said that the pilgrimage is an opportunity to ask ourselves who the Blessed Bishop Omelyan is for us, for Ukrainians, for the Church, for humanity. “The writings of the Holy Martyr show that he was first a servant of God, and then a father to his parishioners,” said the patriarch. “As a father to his parishioners, he was willing to give up his life for them … He was with the people and for the people until the end. With us today are the words that he wrote to his family: ‘Here (in the concentration camp), I see God.’” “The consecration of the monument to Father Omelyan in the central square of the city reveals the priest’s idea of where a priest should be in public life. Father Omelyan always said that a priest should be in the heart of his community. Then he can speak to the heart and lead the people. If he does not deeply feel that heart and is not in the center of public life, then other leaders and pastors will come who will probably lead these people down the road of death. So today we want the voice of our Ukrainian priest to be heard in the heart of the Ukrainian people so that this spiritual father may understand those to whom he preaches, to be with the people and to live his life for the people,” said the head of the UGCC. After the Liturgy members of the pilgrimage went to the monument to Blessed Priest Omelyan Kovch, which was consecrated by Patriarch Sviatoslav. Then eyewitnesses of the life and ministry of the Blessed Priest Omelyan said a few words to the crowd. Made of bronze, the monument has a height of 2.5 meters. Sculptor Volodymyr Odrekhivskyj and architects Oleksandr Yarema, Oleksandr Libych, Denys Belyukh, and Olexandr Matushkov contributed to the making of the monument. Explaining the concept of the monument, Volodymyr Odrekhivskyi said: “Stairs lead up to the monument from four sides, forming the shape of a cross shape. On the one hand, this is the symbol of Fr. Omelyan Kovch’s openness to the world, and on the other, a symbol of all the paths of people who go to him. The essence of the spiritual heroism of the Blessed Omelyan Kovch is conveyed through the image of the priest, the pastor of Majdanek, who walks on earth that is cracked from suffering and in deep religious spirituality turns his face up, to the sky, carrying in front of him the cross of Faith.”  

UGCC Information Department