UGCC delegation pilgrimage to the Holy Land has ended

The pilgrimage of the delegation of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, headed by UGCC Primate His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) has ended. It was held on the occasion of the Year of Faith and took place on April 4-10.

“Our main goal was the pilgrimage,” stated His Beatitude Sviatoslav. “We decided that on the occasion of the Year of Faith and the 1025^th jubilee of the Baptism of Rus-Ukraine to complete this prayer journey to the place from which Christ’s Gospel was spread throughout the world.” Also the UGCC delegation desired to visit the Jerusalem Church and to meet with Ukrainians who work there.

This visit also became a reply, a visit of gratitude to the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church, in particular to Patriarch Gregory III and Most Reverend Elias (Chacour) for their visits to Ukraine: the Patriarch came to the enthronization of His Beatitude Sviatoslav, and Archbishop Elias came last year for the pilgrimage to Zarvanytsia.

His Beatitude Sviatoslav met Bishop Elias on April 5^th. Among other things, they discussed the possibilities of expanding UGCC in the Holy Land. Israel has a substantial amount of UGCC faithful whose pastoral needs up to now have not been adequately met. In Northern Galilee there are 7,000 faithful, according to official statistics. And unofficially – probably twice that number. Also there is a substantial number in Southern Israel. Mostly these are people who came here to work. At present services for Ukrainian Greek-Catholics take place only twice a week in Haifa and Tel Aviv –Jaffa.

The meeting of UGCC Head and Archbishop Elias (Chacour) resulted in an agreement signed by the highest dignitaries of the Melkite and Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Churches.

On April 6^th, His Beatitude Sviatoslav with the delegation visited the Basilica of Annunciation in Nazareth. Afterwards UGCC Head led the celebration of the Divine Liturgy in the Annunciation Cave.

“Here the Word of God was incarnated and our salvation was begun. Therefore, to learn faith, it is best for today’s Christians to come here, to the home of the one who was the first one to believe,” noted the preacher.

On April 7^th, His Beatitude Sviatoslav headed the Divine Liturgy at St. Elijah Church in Haifa. After the service, the delegation met with UGCC faithful and with the clergy of the Melkite Catholic Church. They also visited Tel Aviv and Jaffa where they met UGCC faithful in the Church of the Annunciation of the Holy Virgin Mary, and in Jerusalem, where there was a meeting with Most Reverend Youssef Jules Zereyi, Melkite Greek-Catholic Archbishop and Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem.

On April 8^th, His Beatitude Sviatoslav had two significant meetings in the Holy Land – one with Giuseppe Lazzarotto and the Patriarch of the Roman Catholic Church in Jerusalem Fouad Twal. They discussed the issue of pastoral care for Greek-Catholics.

Also the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic delegation, headed by His Beatitude Sviatoslav visited the Church of the Sepulcher of the Lord. The pilgrims prayed at the place where Jesus Christ was crucified and died, and joined the prayer procession of the Way of the Cross by Franciscan Fathers which went to all the holy places – the passion, death, and resurrection of the Savior.

Towards the end of the visit on April 9^th, UGCC Primate headed the Divine Liturgy in St. Catherine’s Church in Bethlehem. In his sermon, the UGCC Primate thanked the bishops, priests and laity for traveling together to all the holy places. “The spirit of Metropolitan Andrey guides and assists us here,” he noted.

UGCC delegation consisted of six people: His Beatitude Sviatoslav; Bishop Volodymyr (Viytyshyn), Archbishop and Metropolitan of Ivan-Frankivsk; Bishop Joseph (Milan), Auxiliary Bishop of Kyiv Archeparchy; Bishop Taras (Senkiv), Apostolic Administrator of Stryi Eparchy; Bishop Josaphat (Hovera), Lutsk Exarch; Rev. Stephan Balahura, legal vicar of Ivan-Frankivsk Archeparchy.

UGCC Department of Information

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