The Canadian media about the Head of the UGCC: "He not only speaks fluently in nine languages, but also leads a numerous and varied congregation of six million people”

“We are here to share thousands of years of God’s experience that Ukrainians have, our heritage and the spirituality of our Eastern Church. We can distribute this experience in English”, - explained His Beatitude Sviatoslav in an interview with the “Winnipeg Free Press” prior to his visit.

"During his pastoral visit to Canada, the 42-year-old Supreme Archbishop is visiting homes for the elderly, kindergartens, parishes as well as the religious communities. He led the Sunday Liturgy in the Cathedral of Saints Volodymyr and Olha of the UGCC", - read in the publication.

Brenda Suderman notes that: He not only speaks fluently in nine languages, including the English one, but also His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) leads a numerous and varied congregation of six million people, which today extends beyond the borders of a country where it started, that is- in Ukraine, up to Canada, the USA, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand as well as a number of European countries. Ukrainian Catholics are a minority in Ukraine, where the majority of Christians belong to the Eastern Orthodox traditions".

"Each time, the Eastern Rite Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which is covering the highest number of population, goes beyond the borders of its traditional language more and more due to the mixed marriages and immigration, - the newspaper notes, - “I think, that the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is a global Church”, says His Beatitude Sviatoslav, who received a doctoral degree in Rome and served as a bishop in Argentina”.

Metropolitan Lawrence (Huculak), who leads the 122 thousand of Ukrainian Greek Catholics in Canada, invited the Head of the UGCC and bishops to Manitoba, in order to celebrate the 100^th anniversary since the arrival of Bishop Mykyta (Budka), who is the first Ukrainian bishop in Canada. As the centuries passed, one of the greatest challenges for the Church became the preservation of its theology and the unique Liturgy at the time, when the worship is carried out in local languages ​​- writes the newspaper.

"We want to be integrated, but we do not want to be assimilated, because the assimilation will mean the loss of our heritage. We want to enrich our tradition, "- says His Beatitude Sviatoslav in an interview with the editorial. As it is noted by Brenda Suderman, preaching and the proclamation of the Gospel remains for the UGCC the foundation of an ancient tradition of Ukrainian Catholics, no matter in what language it is done.

The primate of the UGCC is actively contributing to the dialogue with other religious traditions within the borders of Ukraine as well as beyond them; he is convinced that people are interested in religion everywhere. ""The Mankind is spiritual in its nature,"- says the Head of the UGCC, who studied at the seminary in Ukraine during the communist era, when the Church was underground. Man is always looking for something extraterrestrial, for someone who is greater than he or she is", - reports the publication.

The Canadian division of the Catholic News Service, while writing about the visit of the Head of the UGCC to Manitoba, reminds us the text- appeal of the UGCC Bishops to the faithful in Canada on the occasion of the conduction of the Holy Synod of Bishops in 2012. The CNS quotes this document, in which the head of the UGCC expresses his gratitude to the Ukrainians in Canada “for the preservation of religious and cultural traditions of the Church and for their assistance after the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Byzantine rite emerged from the underground, after the decades of communist oppression in Ukraine, at the late end of the twentieth century".

The CBC News also report about the Synod of Bishops in Canada. Approximately 40 Greek Catholic bishops from all around the world will meet this week in Winnipeg. This is the first gathering of a kind in Canada. Among those present at the Synod there will be the Archbishop Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), the leader of the global Church - the newspaper notes. "They will stay here for 10 days, meeting at conferences as well as with our communities in Manitoba" - told Nestor Budyk for the CBC News. It will be an exciting week for us. "

On the 24^th of September 2012, the Head of the UGCC will participate in the Conference of the Catholic Bishops of Canada, - says the media center of the Conference

UGCC Department of Information