The Fifty-eight session of the Synod of Bishops of UGCC Kyiv-Halych Major Archbishopric

The Synod was attended by all bishops of UGCC Kyiv-Halych Major Archbishopric and Most Reverend Archimandrite Serhii (Haiek), the Apostolic Visitator for Greek-Catholics in Belarus.

At the beginning of the Synod, His Beatitude Svaiatoslav informed all about the participation of our Church in the Pontifical Synod, while Bishop Bohdan (Dziurakh) reported on preparations for the proclamation of Blessed Martyr Volodymyr Pryima as the Patron of UGCC Laity. Synod members were also updated about the legal acts concerning religious life presented in Parliament, the Cabinet of Ministers, and the Administration of the President of Ukraine.

To deepen the understanding of the topic of the last session of the Major Archbishopric Synod, “The Life of a Priest in a Parish” an interim report was made by Rev. Volodymyr Zhdan, head of the working group preparing the pastoral guide “A Good Shepherd.”

A substantial part of the Synod meetings dealt with work on specific Synod documents: the protocol for bishop visitation to a parish, presented by Bishop Taras (Senkiv); “Statutes of a parish,” presented by Bishop Dmytro (Hryhorak);  “Norms of  celebrating Divine Liturgy” and “Pastoral catechetical guide of UGCC Kyiv-Halych Major Archbishopric” that was  approved in its entirety.  The Synod also ratified a one year trial period of “Protocol for preparation and evaluation of  Synod documents” and passed in the first reading the draft  presented by Bishop Taroslav (Pryriz) of a pastoral epistle “Sunday – God’s Day.”

Other issues included the preservation of Church cultural-artistic acquisitions, addressed by Dr. Daniela Stodilka from Canada, the ratification of the protocol of canonical-pastoral consultations and forms which have to be filled out prior to bestowing the Sacrament of Marriage. Also there was a report on the work of the UGCC Office of Ecology and the coordinators on ecology matters in eparchies and exarchates of the Major Archbishopric, presented by Professor Volodymyr Sheremeta.

The Synod carefully examined the information about incidents of UGCC Kyiv-Halych Major Archbishopric clergy participating in campaigning during Ukraine’s past Parliamentary elections and confirmed that this illegal activity contradicts the essence of the Church and constitutes a misuse of its authority.  As a result, a commission was formed to study the issue of clergy behavior during the past Parliamentary elections and His Excellency Bishop Bohdan (Dziurakh)  was appointed to head a work group on preparing a proposed guide “Directives for clergy behavior during election campaigns in Ukraine.”

In the financial realm, a report was presented on the work by the UGCC created non-government pension fund “Intercession” by Rev. Vasyl Kopychyn, head of the Fund Advisory Council; he delineated the necessity of learning the principles of pension provision in the context of the financial-economical competency in church educational institutions of the Major Archbishopric. The overall issue of the financial management of the Church was also discussed.

Rev. Petro Rak, director of the Department of UGCC Major Archbishopric Commissions, reported on the activities of various commissions.

The Fifty-ninth session of the Synod of Bishops of Kyiv-Halych Major Archbishopric of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church was scheduled for February 2013.

Secretariat of Synod of Bishops
Kyiv-Halych Major Archbishopric UGCC