Meeting of the Permanent Synod of Bishops of UGCC held in London

From September 24 to September 28, 2009, a meeting of the Permanent Synod of Bishops of the UGCC was held in London. The Permanent Synod is a group of bishops that works on behalf of the Patriarch’s Synod and is the advisory body for the head of the Church. The main task of the Permanent Synod is to prepare a meeting of the Patriarch’s Synod. This year the Patriarch’s Synod will be conducted from November 29 to December 9, in Lviv-Bryukhovychi. The theme of the Great Synod, according to Patriarch Lubomyr, the head of the UGCC, will be the strategy of evangelization in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Therefore the Permanent Synod is also preparing for this theme. Another task of the Permanent Synod is to compile a report on the preparation for the Patriarch’s Synod, which will take place in Brazil in 2011 and will be devoted to the theme of consecrated life. During their visit to Great Britain, the bishops, the members of Permanent Synod, congratulated Bishop Hlib (Lonchyna), Apostolic Administrator of Exarchate for the Ukrainian Catholics in Great Britain, for his entrance into the government. (Bishop Hlib was appointed the Apostolic Administrator of the Apostolic Exarchate for Ukrainians of the Byzantium rite in Great Britain The program of the Permanent Synod included meetings with the local priests, laity, and youth. The purpose of those meetings, according to Patriarch Lubomyr, was “to get to know better the position of our Church in this country.” Exactly for this reason, five years ago it was decided to conduct one of the meetings that take place during the year outside the borders of Ukraine. In addition, the members of the Permanent Synod had a meeting with the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Gerard Nichols. Background information The Permanent Synod consists of five people: from the government to this organ is the head of the UGCC, who is the head of Permanent Synod. Three bishops, the members of Permanent Synod, elect the Patriarch’s Synod, and one is appointed by the Major Archbishop. The members of this Synod are elected every five years. Besides this, deputies are elected in case someone from the members of the Permanent Synod will not be able to participate in his work. During a year there are four meetings of the Permanent Synod, one of which takes place right after the completion of the Patriarch’s Synod.  During the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, which took place in Philadelphia (USA) from September 27 to October 6, 2007, the following new members of the Permanent Synod of Bishops of the UGCC were chosen: Archbishop Ihor (Voznyak), Bishop Pavlo (Khomnytskyj), Bishop Davyd (Motyuk), and Bishop Vasyl’ (Semenyuk). The composition of the deputies of the members of the Permanent Synod of Bishops of the UGCC: Bishop Vasyl’ (Ivasyuk), Bishop Yaroslav (Pryriz), Bishop Volodymyr (Yuschak), and Bishop Volodymyr (Kovbych).

Information Department of the UGCC