UGCC Bishops extended their sympathy to the families of the perished, their solidarity with the families of the persecuted and appealed for prayer and fasting.

Tuesday, 04 February 2014, 15:05
Greek-Catholic Bishops of Ukraine in their Appeal on the socio-political situation in the country, expressed their deep sympathy to the families of the perished, their solidarity with the families of the persecuted, and stand on the side of the beaten, the oppressed, the harassed, and the humiliated.

The Appeal emphasizes that the Church condemns all bloodshed and any forms of violence, but supports the right of citizens to peacefully demonstrate.  “With all due decisiveness, we appeal to all sides of the protest:  “End the bloodshed!  Do not permit the spread of violence!” urge the bishops.

Hierarchs emphasize that “justice will not come until every single wound is healed on the bodies of the victims, until all the disappeared without a trace are found, until in society all threats towards fundamental rights and freedoms of a person and the whole nation  are removed and there comes a renewal of trust in government, the lack of which makes it impossible to build a modern lawful nation.” 

Given today’s circumstances in Ukraine, the bishops appeal to all pastors, faithful and people of good will to praying and fasting.

The document also contains practical guidelines  for pastors about organizing daily prayers in churches:

-  We delegate you to continue in churches, monasteries and seminaries a continuous  prayer, according to the order established by the pastor or the superior

-  We ask all our faithful and people of good will to every day join at 9PM a joint prayer for Ukraine

  We also encourage all to private prayers

                   We announce a continuous fast in all our Eparchies and Exarchates according to  the following schedule:

·         Monday – Kyiv Archeparchy, Donetsk –Kharkiv Exarchate, Odesa – Crimea Exarchate

·         Tuesday-- Lviv Archeparchy; Stryi Eparchy

·         Wednesday-- Ivano-Frankivsk Archeparchy; Kolomyia-Chernivtsi Eparchy

·         Thursday – Ternopil Archeparchy; Buchach Eparchy, Sambir-Drohobych Eparchy

·         Friday – Sokal-Zhivkva Eparchy; Lutsk Exarchate Mukachevo Eparchy

 

 Following every Divine Liturgy,  the Synod Bishops also delegated that the Prayer of Andrey Sheptytsky for the better fate of our nation should be said.

In an independent and civilized Ukrainian nation, there should be no blood shedding of its own citizens during a peaceful time, only because these citizens demand and protect their given human rights and freedom.  We call upon the government not to be violent towards their own people but to begin to respect their people.  We hope that our voice does not become the “voice of the thirsty in the desert.”

UGCC Department of Information

TAGS: Synod, prayer
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