UGCC Bishops call on laity to actively participate in social-political life of the country

Thursday, 25 January 2018, 17:02

The Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church His Beatitude Sviatoslav and the Synod of Kyiv-Galician Supreme Archbishopric of the UGCC, taking into consideration numerous challenges in the social -political life of the Ukrainian society, addressed the laymen and clergy in order to represent some actual issues regarding the participation of the faithful in the social-political life of the country. This is the main topic of the Pastoral Advisory "The Call to the Laity to Participate in Social-Political Life of the Country", which is based on the social doctrine of the Church, other faith-instructional documents and the social tradition of the UGCC.

See also:

Resolutions of the Seventy seventh session of the Synod of the Bishops of Kyiv-Galician Supreme Archbishopric of the UGCC

About the Seventy seventh session of the Synod of the Bishops of Kyiv-Galician Supreme Archbishopric of the UGCC

In the Advisory, which will be published as a separate edition and spread among the faithful, the UGCC Bishops address first of all those laymen who, as responsible citizens, are called to implement the social doctrine of the Church, thus fulfilling the mission of evangelization in the world.

The UGCC believes that the laymen should build the independent Ukrainian state according to the God's law, implementing their Christian faith in the ministry to our nation.

"By this we mean, using the words of his Beatitude Lubomyr, 'sincere interest in the common good of the community and the means which lead to it, and most importantly – respect for all the rights'… We, as Christians, must be interested in the destiny of all members of the society: if we follow the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, we must care about the good of the whole society," says the document.

"Participation in the social-political life of the country is a duty first of all for the laity, because it is a part of their Christian calling. This participation should not be limited to membership in political parties only - it must include all spheres of civil society," believe spiritual leaders.

Special attention, in their opinion, should be paid to electoral bodies of local self-governance - this 'talent foundry', where under the scrutiny of the public eye real statesmen are born.

The UGCC Department for Information