Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, named a key player in Christian ecumenism worldwide by "Inside the Vatican" magazine. |
"Great Fast in other words can be called the time of recovery, spiritual healing. During that time we need to reveal our shortcomings, disadvantages, defects and spiritual sickness and complain about them. And if you deeply analyze all our spiritual infirmities and sins can be reduced to one common denominator - little faith in God", - said on this day, March 30, the Father and the Head of the UGCC His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) during a sermon to the faithful in the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ. |
We have no other help, we have no other hope, but You, O Most Pure Virgin. Aid us, for we hope in You and praise You; May we, Your servants, be not put to shame.
(Canon of the Moleben to the Most Holy Mother of God). |
On January 11th, 2014, Pope Francis established the Syro Malabar Eparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle of Melbourne. This is the fifth eparchy in Australia. The Syro Malabar Catholics from India join the Ukrainian, Maronite, Melkite, and Chaldean Eparchies. The Syro Malabar Church, with over 4 million followers, is the second biggest Eastern Catholic Church in the world. The first is our Ukrainian Catholic church. There are 21 Eastern Catholic Churches. The head of the Syro Malabar Church is Major Archbishop George Cardinal Alencherry. |
In continuing the service of my great predecessors on the Kyiv-Halych Altar, I desire once again, in communion with our whole Church in Ukraine and in settlements, to renew the Act of consecrating the Ukrainian people under the mighty Intercession of the Blessed Mother. |
Pope Francis welcomed the major archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, on Monday morning. |
Our
Church, our Faithful and our entire Ukrainian People enter into the
Great Fast this year with feelings of pain, fear, suffering and
trembling hope. We have experienced one of
the longest and most terrible winters in the history of our people – a
winter in which we profoundly and personally felt the darkness of sin,
and we saw evil that garishly expressed
itself in our modern history and bore its murderous interior for all to
see. Sin, in its ugly, noxious nature, rose up before us. |
"I embrace Ukrainians with prayers,
especially those, who lost their lives during these days, and their
families. I hope for the development of a constructive dialogue between
the institutions and the civil society – that, excluding any sort of
violent actions, in the heart of every person, the spirit of peace and
the search for the common good conquers. Those were the words of Pope
Francis after the prayer "Angel of God” on Sunday, January 26, 2014, in
speaking to thousands of pilgrims who gathered on Saint Peter’s Square
in the Vatican, among whom were also representatives of the Ukrainian
inhabitants of Rome. This was reported by Radio Vatican. |
Today there is a great distrust to the law
enforcing bodies. But it has not started today, but since the events in
Vradiyivka and other cases - those who should protect people began to
treat cruelly them. |
Archbishop Denis Hart, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops
Conference, has written an open letter to the Ukrainian people, on
behalf of the Church in Australia regarding the recent events in
Ukraine. |
The Holy Scripture is the Word of God, which is addressed to each person
and that is why It is actual at every time and every place. The Holy
Scripture is the collection of the books, which were written by holy men
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and which Christ’s Church
received and keeps as the Word of God. St. Jerome teaches: "Ignorance of
the Scripture is ignorance of Christ”. |
The table is set for a delicious supper,
and outside the windows one can already hear the singing of Christmas
carols. The whole world has stopped in expectation of the Christmas
Miracle; all await the birth of the Savior of the world. |
His Beatitude Lubomyr Gusar will become a
hero of Ukraine's first interactive movie. The co-authors and
co-producers of this innovative project will be the audience. |
Pope Francis yesterday described Christmas as an occasion of joy but
also a lesson in humility, when the faithful are called to imitate the
example of God-made-man. He was speaking during his weekly public
audience in St Peter's Square, reports the Catholic News Service. |
We are profoundly disturbed by the actions of the state security
forces on the Maydan Square in heart of Kyiv conducted under the cover
of the night. |
Considering the social-political situation
in Ukraine, I appeal to all the faithful of the Church and to people of
good will to uninterrupted prayer for a better fate for our nation.
Please pray that God grants His wisdom to our people in general and to
every citizen in particular. Let us pray that He not permit the chains
of evil, but through His peace and wisdom free our people from all
things that enslave them, and afterwards lay open for them a road into
the future. |
"All of us feel for our Ukraine and for its
better fate. However, unfortunately, those who today hold power in
their hands either do not hear the people or are making believe that
nothing has happened. Perhaps they cannot fully comprehend the whole
seriousness of this historic moment which we are experiencing today,”
stated His Beatitude Sviatoslav (Shevchuk), UGCC Head, in commenting on
the social political situation which has emerged in Ukraine. |
The patriarch Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) on 25 November with the special permission of Pope Francis led a solemn Pontifical Divine Liturgy at the main altar of the Vatican Basilica of St. Peter on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the laying of the relics of St. Josaphat, martyr for Church unity. |
With the formal reading in Latin of a Papal Bull, Christopher Prowse
yesterday became the seventh Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and
Goulburn. Archbishop Prowse was formally installed in his chair of
office in St Christopher’s Cathedral in front of about 700 people,
including more than 30 of his brother bishops, reports the Canberra Times. |
On November 24 we will celebrate the Feastday of St. Micheal, the patron saint of the church in Queanbeyan. Everyone is welcome to attend. |
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