His Beatitude Sviatoslav begins visit to Germany

On February 11, Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church started a visit to Germany. During the week, he is to meet with leading representatives of the Catholic Church in Germany, heads of the charitable organizations Renovabis, Church in Need, Caritas Germany, celebrate hierarchical liturgies in the parishes of the UGCC in Munich, Frankfurt and Berlin. During the first days of his stay in Germany, the head of the UGCC visited Altotting, the largest pilgrimage destination in Germany associated with the Virgin Mary. The head of the UGCC got acquainted with the history and museum of the pilgrimage place. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Passau Wilhelm Schraml invited Patriarch Sviatoslav “to visit this place, which is rich in God’s grace, with the Ukrainian pilgrims again and to pray jointly with the German pilgrims for our two nations.” During the visit, Patriarch Sviatoslav met with the Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Meisner. The cardinal thanked the head of the UGCC and all the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, “which by its suffering testified to the whole undivided Christ’s Church and sealed its loyalty to its native Orthodox faith and Catholic Church with the blood of the martyrs.” The archbishop spoke warmly of Patriarch Sviatoslav’s predecessors whom he knew personally. In his turn, Patriarch Sviatoslav expressed his gratitude to the cardinal for his support of the UGCC. On February 12, the head of the UGCC led a Hierarchical Liturgy in the Cathedral of the Apostolic Exarchate in Munich. “During the persecution of the UGCC in Ukraine gathered our parents and all of us gathered in this church to pray for the revival and liberation of our Church and Fatherland. Today His Beatitude Sviatoslav we thank God for the gift of our freedom,” said the representatives of the organizing committee responsible for the Primate’s visit to Germany.

UGCC Information Department