Kyiv-Halych Metropolitanate's hierarchs meet at synod in Lviv

Religious Information Service of Ukraine

LVIV - The 18th Session of the Synod of Bishops of the Kyiv and Halych Metropolitanate of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC) was held in Lviv on March 18-19. Among the participants were 12 Ukrainian hierarchs, the members of the synod, and Archbishop Ivan Martyniak, metropolitan of Przemysl and Warsaw, Poland.

The Kyiv and Halych Metropolitanate covers all the territory of Ukraine except for the Zakarpattia region, which has its own separate Greek-Catholic jurisdiction.

Participants of the session discussed various organizational problems of the metropolitanate's hierarchical bodies and the synod, as well as a number of pastoral issues. They also considered possible ways for proper commemoration of the Year of the Family, proclaimed by the head of the UGCC in early January 2003. They gave corresponding instructions concerning "The Procedure of Preparation for Marriage" and other Church documents and religious practices. In addition, all priests of the metropolitanate were advised to emphasize the importance of joint prayer in families.

Observances of the 70th anniversary of the Soviet-imposed Famine-Genocide in Ukraine in 1932-1933, the publication of a pastoral letter on economic reforms in Ukraine, and commemorations of the 700th anniversary of the establishment of the Kyiv and Halych Metropolitanate and of the 750th anniversary of the coronation of King Danylo of Halych were also discussed during the session.

The next session of the Metropolitanate's Synod is planned for June12-13 in Lviv.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, April 13, 2003, No. 15, Vol. LXXI

| Home Page |