Meeting with Ukrainian Greek Catholic pastors in Austria

With the blessing of the head of the UGCC Patriarch Lubomyr, on November 22, 2010, in Vienna, Austria, a work meeting of the head of the Pastoral Missionary Department (PMD) Bishop Joseph (Milyan) with the UGCC pastors in Austria was held. The delegation included Secretary General Fr. Vasyliy Potoczniak and Secretary Andrew Hah. The history of the UGCC in Austria goes back to the 18th century. For 250 years the church in this country gave a basis for developing the theological, academic, cultural, social, and political life in Austria and in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in general. The Ukrainian Greek Catholics enjoyed special attention from the imperial court; the evidence of this is the embroidered icons in the central parish of St. Barbara in Vienna. At the meeting, Vicar General Fr. Alexander Oshtaym Dzerovych clearly highlighted two questions of the church’s life in Austria: the canonical status of the UGCC in Austria, which is represented by the general vicar, the central parish of St. Barbara (Vienna), and larger church communities in Salzburg, Innsbruck, Lenz, Graz, Klagenfurt and the features of pastoral ministry of the UGCC in Austria. According to the vicar general, today in Austria live over 20 thousand Ukrainians and 7 UGCC priests. The meeting was also attended by priests who minister in Austria: pastor of St. Barbara Fr. Taras Chagall, vicar Fr. Oleh Kovtun, Fr. Lubomyr Dudka, Fr. Vitaly Mykytyn, and Fr. Jury Kolesa. The priests agreed to Fr. Vasyl’s suggestion to participate in meetings in Kyiv of clerics who minister abroad and to assist in organizing conferences and pastoral courses for the laity and migrants. Father Vasyl presented the achievements and plans of the PMD and called for a greater cooperation of the priests. At the meeting Bishop Joseph reviewed the difficulties of ministry in Austria, thanked the priests for the meeting, and expressed hope for further cooperation for the good of the Ukrainian nation.

Pastoral Missionary Department of the UGCC