The Rite of Installment of Bishop Borys (Gudziak) took place in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

Wednesday, 05 December 2012, 09:51
The Rite of Installment of Bishop Borys (Gudziak) as the Apostolic Exarch for Ukrainian Greek-Catholics in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg and Switzerland took place on December 2, 2012. The Divine Liturgy and the Rite of Installment was led by UGCC Head His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk).

The Archbishop of Paris, Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois and the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn participated in the Rite of Installment.  Concelebrants of the Divine Liturgy were UGCC bishops and dozens of UGCC priests from countries throughout the world. The choirs, Nadiya Tserkvy [Hope of the Church] of the Lviv Holy Spirit Seminary and Stritennia, [Presentation at the Temple] of the Ukrainian Catholic University sang, reported UCU Press Service.

The celebrations began with a march through the streets of Paris, from St. Volodymyr the Great Cathedral, the main church of the Greek-Catholics, to Notre Dame Cathedral for the services.  Notre Dame Cathedral, capable of accommodating 3,000 people, was filled to the brim.

During the sermon (audio), His Beatitude Sviatoslav underscored the historical importance of this moment for the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church.  UGCC Head noted that today the Exarchate faces great challenges and tasks.

“We should share the treasures of faith of our Church-martyr with the contemporary person who lives in a secularized world. We must show the world the young face of our Church, one that has a history exceeding a thousand years.  This exarchate offers the opportunity to create a particular sphere of communication between God and a person, which our Church is called to serve.  It is vital that this sphere becomes transformed into a European intellectual center of our Church, in which we should share faith and hope with all people of goodwill,” emphasized the UGCC Primate.

Exarch Borys (Gudziak) thanked the UGCC Head and the UGCC Synod of Bishops for their trust, blessings and support.  He also expressed his gratitude to the diplomats, entrepreneurs, the communities of the Ukrainian Catholic University and the Lviv Holy Spirit Seminary and all the pilgrims who came to Paris for this occasion.

“We have a great responsibility to share the blessings which God gave us, therefore let us step outside of our comfort zone and let us open ourselves to our neighbors,” urged the newly-installed Apostolic Exarch for Ukrainian Greek-Catholics in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg and Switzerland.

As we had reported, during that morning, UGCC Head met with the Ukrainian community of France in St. Volodymyr the Great Cathedral.  On the previous day, he also met UGCC priests who provide pastoral care in France, countries of Benelux and Switzerland.

His Beatitude Sviatoslav’s sermon on the occasion of installing Bishop Borys  (Gudziak) as the Apostolic Exarch for Ukrainian Greek-Catholics in France, countries of Benelux and Switzerland

His Beatitude Sviatoslav's sermon

Photo Album of the Rite of Instalation

Video of the Rite of Instalation

UGCC Department of Information

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