Representatives of UGCC Pastoral Missionary Department visit Greece

From November 12 to 15, 2011, Pastoral Missionary Department (PMD) chair Bishop Josyf Milyan and an executive secretary Fr. Vasyl Potochnyak visited Athens. On Sunday, Bishop Josyf headed the Hierarchical Liturgy, which was attended by Athens Bishop Dimitri Salachas, who “said a good word about the Ukrainian labor migrants in Greece.” Then on Tuesday the PMD representatives celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the chapel of the monastery of the Basilian Sisters. Addressing the audience, Bishop Josyf pointed out that “the motivation for a relationship with God must be love. So children’s love for God creates a real and deep relationship with the Creator.” According to Fr. Vasyl, Greek Catholics in Athens pray in the lower church of Greek Catholic Exarchate in Greece, which is headed by Bishop Dimitri Salachas. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic community is quite large. At the parish there is a secondary school where students get certificates that are recognized by the Ministry of Education of Ukraine. There are lay women’s organizations, including Mother in Prayer. “Our children are catechized by sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great, who founded a community in Athens. Recently, Fr. Taras Kohut, UGCC pastor in the capital of Greece, introduced another Sunday Liturgy, because the church is too small for so many faithful,” said Fr. Vasil. However, the secretary of the PMD sadly noted that on the islands, in Thessaloniki, and in Patras, “our faithful do not get pastoral care from us.” On November 29 on the occasion of the enthronement of Metropolitan of Lviv in Ukraine, Bishop Dimitri is expected to visit. It is planned to discuss at the highest level the issue of pastoral care of Ukrainian migrants in Greece.  

UGCC Pastoral Missionary Department