Vatican Radio Finding new ways to preach the Gospel, especially in
lands that have already received it, and to cultures that have been
penetrated and formed by it, is one of the central points of focus for
the Fathers of the XIII Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
This is a special and particular concern for the Major Archbishop of the
Ukrainian Catholic Church, Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Galicia, who, at
42 years of age, is also the youngest of the Synod Fathers. He told
Vatican Radio that the concept of spiritual paternity and maternity is a
key to the New Evangelization.
"[W]e can transmit our faith only in the context of interpersonal
dialogue,” he said, "so, we need somebody who can generate us in the
faith of the Church.” Archbishop Shevchuk went on to say, "[Such] are
the persons we would call spiritual father [and] mother.” The Archbishop
also spoke of the role of the family in fostering a sense of faith. "I
received my Christian faith [during the time of the persecutions under
Communism] in my family, and actually, in the former Soviet Union,
Christian families were real Ecclesiae domesticate [domestic Churches].”
He described the way the life of the larger Church informed the life of
the family from within. "This was the ‘home Church’,” he said, "where a
priest could come and celebrate Sacraments, where I learned a basic
notion of Christian faith from my grandmother, and even in those
circumstances, I learned how to pray, how to worship, how to live my
life according to the Christian moral principles.”
