UGCC Head began the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Order of Redemptorist Fathers serving in Ukraine

Together with His Beatitude Sviatoslav, co-celebrants of the Jubilee Divine Liturgy were: Bishop Ihor (Vozniak), Archbishop and Metropolitan of  Lviv; Bishop Stefan (Meniok), Donetsk- Kharkiv Exarch; Bishop Mykhailo (Koltun), Sokal-Zhovkva Eparch; Bishop Bryan (Bayda), Saskatoon Eparch; Bishop Yaroslav (Pryriz), Sambir-Drohobych Eparch; Bishop Iryney (Bilyk), Bishop-Emeritus of Buchach Eparchy; Bishop Bohdan (Dziurakh), Secretary of UGCC Synod of Bishops; and numerous clergy.

During the homily, His Beatitude Sviatoslav mentioned the recent Papal Synod in Rome, which   focused on the issue of faith.  According to the UGCC Primate, the bishops who gathered from around the world at the Synod, acknowledged the deplorable state of today’s person, which can be characterized by the label “prisoner” (listen to video).

A reminder, that the service of the Redemptorists to Ukrainians was begun by the Belgian missionary Rev. Achilles Delaere who in 1906 changed from the Roman Catholic Rite to the Byzantine, in order to work with Ukrainian immigrants in Canada.  Touched by the zealous work of the Belgian priests, Metropolitan Andrey (Sheptytsky) suggested that they begin similar missionary work in Western Ukraine (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire).  In May 1913, Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky and the General Chapter of the Redemptorist Order signed an agreement to establish a monastery in Galicia, and already in August of that year, Rev. Joseph Skhreivers together with five priests and one monk, arrived in Ukraine.

In the hundred years of their work in the Lviv area, the Province of the Most Holy Redeemer gave the Church four priest martyrs, many confessors of faith and tireless workers in God’s  Vineyard.

UGCC Department of Information