His Beatitude Sviatoslav and Bishop Stepan Sus held an online conference with priests from Spain

Friday, 10 April 2020, 14:59

We want the motto of the Patriarchal Sobor "Your Church always and everywhere with you" to be the rule of our pastoral ministry for migrants today. The Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, said this during an online conference with UGCC priests serving in Spain.

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The main topic of discussion was pastoral care in the quarantine and pandemic caused by COVID-19.

The online communication was initiated by the Head of the Church and the Pastoral Migration Department. The conference was attended by the Head of the Pastoral Migration Department Bishop Stepan Sus, Secretary of the PMD Fr. Andriy Gakh, and 24 priests from Spain.

“We have two extremes in Ukrainian society today. Some complain that we go online and encourage people to stay home and not be in church. Others complain that we are still worshiping and that everything must be closed.

We, along with our bishops, are looking for a middle ground to, on the one hand, pass on the Word of God to our people, help them survive in this time, share the Holy Mysteries if circumstances allow us, and on the other hand, comply with the quarantine rules. We reached a consensus with the Ukrainian authorities - they did not close the churches and entered into dialogue with different religious communities,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

The Head of the UGCC called on the pastors from Spain to share their experience of ministry at such a difficult time.

“I would like to hear from you as you advise how you respond to these challenges. I ask you, on occasion, to greet our people on my behalf through the means you're using - Skype, Zoom, Facebook. Please say that the Head of the Church and their Mother Church do not forget about them, ” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

He greeted the priests on the coming Easter, wishing them merry holidays, a blessed Easter, and optimism.

Bishop Stepan also assured the Spanish priests of praying for them, their families and communities, and of willingness to always communicate and exchange ideas on how to improve their ministry.

The priests from Spain thanked the Head of the Church and the Head of the Pastoral Department for the meeting, noting that it was an expression of attention, love, and connection with the Mother Church.

The UGCC Department for Information