JOURNAL OF A CATECHIST’S ADVENTURE

June 12. With Volodymyr Mykhalyshyn cantoring, I offered an early morning Divine Liturgy in the house chapel at the New Westminster Bishop Jerome Eparchial Centre (named for the first Bishop Jerome Chimy who was appointed in 1974). Then he drove me out to the Vancouver Airport for and early flight to Toronto then to Rome. There was enough of a layover time in Toronto to have a late lunch with the pastor of St. Nicholas Parish, Very Rev. Roman Lobay, and the Teply family from that parish - a family of teachers in the Catholic school system there. Back to the airport, on to Rome.

June 13. Arrive in Rome. A seminarian picked me up at Fumincino Airport and took me to St. Josaphat Pontifical Seminary where I was warmly met by the new Rector, Fr. Bernard Pidhirny, OSBM. Offered a private Eucharist Liturgy and, rested and then went down into the city for a walk around St Peter’s Square. Had, of course, a real cappuccino and… perhaps a bit of gelato…

June 14. Flight into Slovakia – first to Bratislava and then Kosice. I had not taken this route before to get to Ukraine since my student years, but this time my Ukraine trip started in the far west in the city of Uzhhorod.

June 15. A very kind priest of the Redemptorist Vice-Province of Michalovce, Slovakia, Father Antony. met me at the airport in Kosice to drive me to the border across from Uzhhorod where I would have to cross on my own by foot and someone would meet me on the other side. Before we made it to the border however, we made a stop at the huge Byzantine minor basilica of the Descent of the Holy Spirit and shrine, operated by the Redemptorist Fathers in Michalovce. There the Redemporists offered kind hospitality and a tour of their monastery and shrine. In the basilica are enshrined the relics of the Redemptorist martyr, Blessed Methodius (Dominik Trčka) CSsR, who served the Eastern Catholics in that part of Europe including western Ukraine and eastern Czechoslovakia. He died in prison at the hands of the Communist regime.

June 15. We arrived at the border at the same time as a couple of buses, so the line was long and we had to wait at the gate a couple of hours before I could enter the control area. Fr. Antony was kind enough to wait with me. When the time came I bid farewell to Fr. Antony and made my way into the line and procedure – forst the Slovakian side, then across to the Ukrainian side. Truth be told, I found both sides were thorough and no-nonsense, but fair and efficient. When I passed through the final gate into Ukraine a twinge of emotion welled up in me as well as sense of joy. I was back and it was good to back! But, yet there was the war…
To my relief, there was a gentleman from the Mukachevo Eparchial centre in Uzhorod to meet me. It was very hot day (the whole travel experience, except for the two days of the annual pilgrimage to Zarvanytsya were scorching hot days (“speka” as they say in Ukraine) but the car started moving and the breeze helped cool things off. As we were driving an suv cut two lanes in front of us and almost caused an accident except for the immediate move of our driver. Not sure where it came from, but I muttered, “what an idiot” (Predurok ostaniy). Then I thought it was not that appropriate, so I apologized to the driver. He wryly relied, “well, if its true, its true”.

June 15. We arrived at the palatial Mukachevo Eparchial chancery and bishop’s residence in the heart of Uzhhorod. [Yes, the Eparchy is named for a neighbouring city, but back in the day the Hapsburg dynasty gifted the eparchy this beautiful cathedral and complex. You can imagine how the communist regime let the building decay, but now it is being refurbished into an appropriate residence and centre to serve the growing pastoral needs of the great Subcarpathian Eparchy of far western Ukraine. Bishop Teodor Matsapula, IVE, the young energetic Bishop of the Eparchy, met me at the centre and had me escorted to my room on the top floor. (I felt somewhat sorry for the deacon who carried may larger suitcase all the way up the winding stairs.) It was a very comfortable room. I rested a bit.
That evening some of the heads of the eparchial and exarchal catechism commissions from around Ukraine started to gather for our meetings the next day. Those who arrived earlier, including the Director of the Pedagogical-Catechetical Institute of the Ukrainian Catholic University, Dr. Nazar Duda, were invited to join the Bishop for a walking tour along the Uz River that runs down the centre of the city. We began at the historic Ashkenazi Synagogue and made our way past the Augustin Voloshyn Monument (the Ukrainian Catholic monsignor who was a leader of Subcarpathian Ukraine and became its declared president at one point), and then up to a new cemetery where many soldiers who have died defending Ukrainian against Russia’s brutal invasion are interred. We offered prayers there for the deceased and sang them a heartfelt “Vichnaya pamyat;”.

June 16-17. We began two days of sessions with all the local heads of catechetical commission of all the eparchies and exarchates of Ukraine. Bishop Teodor welcomed us and expressed his vision and hopes for a vibrant catechism movement within his own eparchy. As the Head of the Patriarchal Catechetical Commission, I gave the opening talk, during which I stressed three points:
- the paramount importance of catechesis in the Church today and the gratitude of the Bishops and the Church as a whole for the efforts of catechists,
- the importance of a strong Biblical foundation and easy, yet immeasurably effective methods of Lectio Divina and the myriad of great Catholic Bible-study resources online – especially from the Catechetical omission, and
- to be aware of shifting social and moral movements in the world and within our own society and to boldly and with the love of Christ respond readily with the light and truth of the Gospel and the teachings of Christ’s Church.
In these two days, these top catechists, priests, Sisters and laypeople, entristed with the development of strong catechetical programs throughout their eparchies – shared best practices, sometimes commiserated about some challenging trends, and yet, filled with hope, made plans for events and new movements in the immediate future. Bishop Teodor and his team also took the group on a tour of the budding Catholic school network in the city and other historic or developing sites, all within walking distance.
We also saw the massive bomb shelter beneath the complex where children are rushed down when the sirens go off.

June 18-19. Formal and informal meetings at the Offices of Patriarchal Catechetical Commission at the Lviv Patriarchal Centre and especially at the Theological Faculty building of the Ukrainian Catholic University near Holy Spirit Seminary – all along…. Saint John Paul II Avenue in Lviv. Preparation was also underway for the big final round of Ukraine’s national “Search for Truth” Contest, hosted by the Commission.

June 20. The annual All-Ukraine “Search for Truth” contest in two age-groups. The best teams from practically every eparchy and exarchate throughout Ukraine and some from western Europe – including England, Norway, Italy and Germany compete on their knowledge of the Catechism. Especially the Youth Catechism, “We Walk With Christ” issued in 2020. Younger children gather in the morning for an intense and fun, but serious, series of tough questions. They do amazingly well! Although, there eventually are three teams that do better than the rest and take third to first places. The same happens in the afternoon with the older youth. I served as judge on a panel of three – two other professors from the University. There was some disappointment by some of the teams. Understandably. They poured their hearts and souls into this contest. They travelled far – some from areas of frequent bombardment and hardship. But we tried to impress upon them how truly mazing they were in how they did – whether or not they when home with trophies and prize money. A documentary (or adventure) video will have to be made of this contest. It would surely be an inspirational watch for anyone throughout the Church, throughout the world.

June 21. The first All-Canada “Search for Truth” Contest! Yes, the very next day, we hosted from the Pedagogical-Catechetical Institute at UCU, the very first Catechism “Search for Truth” contest with teams entering from Newfoundland, Toronto, Saskatoon and British Columbia! This was accomplished online and worked very well! I again served as one of the judges on the panel. The children again, all did very well. They too received certificates and mementos of their participation. Next year there will be even more groups from each of Canada’s five eparchies.

June 22-24. Catechism Sessions at the Institute. Beautiful daily Divine Liturgies in filled chapel at the UCU Theological Faculty. (Melting hot, but soaring spirits.)

June 24. Online meeting with the heads of Catechism Commissions/’Departments for the Ukrainian Catholic eparchies and exarchates of Western Europe.

June 25. Trip to meet Bishop Dmytro Hryhorak at Chortkiv. Discussion about new formation programs for their catechists – that will be offered by the PC-Institute in Lviv. The Bishop is in full support!

June 26. Major pilgrimage at Stradch, Ukraine. An ancient site of early martyrs, some 2000 tortured and executed by the invading Tatars in the 12th century. Thus the name of the village (“Stradch” signifies a place or event of execution). More recently, as the Communist Soviets were passing through, the parish priest, Fr. Nicholas Conrad and his cantor, Volodymyr Pryjma were killed - the former shot, the latter mercilessly beaten to death. His Beatitude Sviatoslav and many bishops and clergy and thousands of other pilgrims gathered at the outdoor altar. It was a time of grace and inspiration to have such a public manifestation of faith in this time of war. Families of fallen soldiers were specially honoured. Some local politicians attended and former President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko.

June 27. The graduation of one of the largest classes in the history of the Pedagogical-Catechetical Institute. I was joined by Bishop Vasyl Tuchapets, OSBM from the city of Kharkiv and Bishop Mykhailo Bubniy, CSsR from the city of Odesa – both providing pastoral care an leadership in the eastern and southern regions where the war rages most intensely. At the graduation ceremonies, the president of the Ukrainian Catholic University, Metropolitan Borys Gudzak also addressed the graduating Catechists. It was truly a happy day for the catechists and their families that came out to be with them on this special day after some three tough years. Many will go on to at least complete the masters program.

June 28. Annual national All-Ukraine pilgrimage of Catechists. This was going to happen in the new shrine at Starunya in the Ivano-Frankivsk province (oblast), but since His Beatitude Sviatoslav was leading the 25th anniversary celebration if Pope St. John Paul’s 2001 visit to Ukraine at Lviv, the catechists decided to go there instead. It was a (HOT!), but glorious day as almost the entire synod of bishops from around the world joined the Head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and many priests and, again, thousands of pilgrims, at the Parish Church of the Nativity of Mother of God in Sykhiv where Pope John Paul II met with hundreds of thousands of youth a quarter of a century ago. They remember this. Ukraine remembers this. It was a moment of raising the spirits and dignity of an entire nation into the love of Christ and His Church. Ukraine was never the same after that.
At this event, I had the honour of representing the hundreds of Catechists who had gather by greeting His Beatitude and presenting him with one of the recent accomplishments of the Patriarchal Catechetical Commission - a newly publishes Ukrainian version of the famed Jerusalem Bible. After the Divine Liturgy, the Catechists still made the Way of the Cross in Sykhiv’s beautiful forest park. This was followed by a Moleben’ to Blessed Josaphata Hordashevska, who the Synod declared in 2025 to be the patron of Catechists of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Then the awarding of the ‘catechist of the year’ trophies to catechists chosen from each jurisdiction throughout Ukraine.

To be continued….

Bishop Michael Kwiatkowski
Chair, Patriarchal Catechetical Commission