UGCC Head appealed to Greek-Catholics of Khyriv (Lviv oblast) to share testimonies of their faith

Monday, 19 November 2012, 21:53
On October 18, 2012, UGCC Head His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) after participating in the 400th anniversary of monasticism on Chernecha Hora in Dobromyl and the 130th anniversary of the Dobromyl reform, visited the Greek-Catholic community in Khyriv, located in the Staryi Sambir Lviv oblast. In his address to the UGCC faithful there, he informed them that the year 2013 has been proclaimed by the Holy Father as the Year of Faith. In opening this Year of Faith, the Holy Father noted that during this year we, believing Christians of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, should demonstrate to the contemporary world, the truth and the beauty of Catholic faith.

UGCC Primate also shared information that the UGCC Synod of Bishops, in answer to the call of the Holy Father, also proclaimed a Year of Faith in UGCC, and delegated the program organization and implementation to Bishop Yaroslav (Pryriz), the Sambir-Drohobych Eparch.

“Let us ask ourselves today what it means for us to be believers. According to the Church scholars and the Gospel, faith is God’s gift and if there is only one God, there is one faith and one Baptism. Faith is a gift which God wants to share with all of us,” stated UGCC Head while also emphasizing that faith is a virtue which manifests itself in the ability of a person to receive such a gift.

“I want to note that in Khyriv there are special people, who live by faith, since it was your faith that was your strength to withstand times of impossible persecutions – it as your basis of life.  I came here today to thank you and to bow my head in respect to you for loving your Church so much, for being Catholics when it is difficult.  You did not deny your ancestral faith at a time, when possibly, someone demanded it -- you remained the children of the One, Holy, Catholic   and Apostolic Church, stated the Father and Head of the Church to the parishioners,

Then His Beatitude Sviatoslav stressed that every Christian is called to share his faith since “we cannot hold on to this God’s gift only for ourselves.”  “Stretch your hand to someone else and bring to the Church that someone who still does not know the grace of this faith,” he added in conclusion.

At the end of His Beatitude Sviatoslav’s meeting with UGCC faithful in Khyriv, while presenting to the Primate the gift of a cross as a symbol of victory over evil and resurrection, Bishop Yaroslav (Pryriz) said, “We will remember you in our prayers, as children who pray for their father.”

 

UGCC Department of Information

 

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