The gathering of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Catholic Church began, in a sense, with the Sunday celebration in Lviv of the historic Visit of Pope St. John Paul II to Ukraine in 2001. Many members of synod from around the world participated in the massive outdoor hierarchical Divine Liturgy on the grounds of the mega parish church of the Nativity of the Mother of God in the Sykhiv suburb of the city of Lviv. The head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav led the Liturgy before thousands of faithful that gathered around the church stretching to the streets and to the nearby major shopping centre. The event was also simultaneously a youth pilgrimage organized by the Patriarchal Youth Commission – the head of which is the bishop of Toronto Bishop Bryan Bayda, CSsR. It was also the annual pilgrimage of Catechists who moved their pilgrimage to Lviv from Starunya when they learned of this major anniversary. Bishop Michael Kwiatkowski of New Westminster, BC, who is also head of the Patriarchal Catechetical Commission made a presentation to His Beatitude of the newly published Ukrainian version of the renowned Jerusalem Bible with commentaries. He asked the Head of the Ukrainian Church to receive it as the Catechists’ pledge to continue their all-important ministry and as a humble request that His Beatitude would continue to keep the catechists and the success of their ministry in his prayer.
The following day was the great Catholic feast of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul. All bishops made their way to various parishes throughout the region to celebrate with the local Faithful. By the evening of the next day, Tuesday, June 30th, all bishops made their way to the great Marian Shrine of Zarvanytsya where they prayed a special Moleben’, invoking the guidance Holy Spirit and then made a personal oath of dedication and confidentiality for the duration of the Synod.
The schedule of the Synod is very full… from morning until evening. The prayer cycle includes a morning Eucharistic Liturgy, the Sixth Hour at noon and vespers in the evening. There are other prayers throughout the day, including a prayer for the deceased as part of the daily 9:00 AM national moment of silence for the those who have died (and die daily!) from the Russian drone and missile strikes on various cities throughout the country.
Besides the prayer schedule, there are three extensive meeting sessions throughout the day during which a myriad of themes and matters are discussed, and decisions are made as required. Outstanding, well-researched multimedia presentations are made on principal themes followed by truly profound and helpful discussions. Discussions may take place in the full synodal chamber or in small groups, depending on the subject matter and what proposes to be the most effective method. The almost two-week experience is a time of intense, daily work. However, there a few breaks. One is when the Bishops choose one of many parishes in the surrounding eparchies to join the people for the Sunday morning Divine Liturgy. Another is a day of spiritual renewal led this year by a hieromonk (a priest monk). [Very appropriate as the key theme this year is “Vocations to the priestly ministry and the consecrated (aka monastic) life”.]
There is time during the lunch break or in the evening for bishops to meet amongst themselves or with outside groups to arrange for various projects for their eparchies, etc. The Bishops from Canada held a lunch meeting with the Director of the Catechetical-Pedagogical Institute, Dr. Nazar Duda. After which they were also able to discuss matters concerning the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada. Also, during the few windows of free-time, the bishops can walk throughout the territory of the Zarvanytsya Shrine which has many amazing churches, chapels, impressive Way of the Cross and an awe-inspiring replica of old Jerusalem that really needs to be seen to fully appreciate. One also notices several images of the Bishop Martyr Nykyta Budka, the first bishop appointed to Canada in 1912. One of the reasons being that after about 15 years of ministry in Canada, he was transferred from Canada to Ukraine. He dedicated a lot of time overseeing the building up and development of the Zarvanytsya Shrine. The Communists ultimately came, destroyed the shrine and arrested Blessed Nykyta, who eventually died a Martyr. He must be smiling upon his beloved shrine, because now it has been built up again into a truly worldclass Marian Shrine.
Ukraine, as with much of Europe, has been experiencing an intense heatwave. Thirty+ degrees Celsius and occasionally hotter. This has not hampered the pace of episcopal events or the schedule of the Synod. God willing, there will be some very inspiring and practical documentation and decisions that will inspire the Ukrainian Catholic Church for years to come. Please pray for the Bishops as they dedicate themselves to this annual event.
For more articles and photos – visit the Ukrainian Catholic Church website [HERE].
