Today, on March 18, members of the Election Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), which is to elect the new head of UGCC, began to arrive in Lviv.

The synod will be led by the Administrator of UGCC, Bishop Ihor Vozniak and, according to preliminary information, will be attended by 45 bishops of the UGCC from Ukraine and abroad (western Ukraine, USA, Canada, Brazil, Argentina and Australia). Five members of the Synod cannot attend it for justified reasons.

The Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church will begin its work on March 21 in Patriarch Josyf Slipyj Retreat Center in Lviv-Briukhovychi.

According to the bishop, the Election Synod of the UGCC is convened on the basis of a norm of Canon 128, Paragraph 3 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. 

The members of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC will stay in the place of holding of the synod until the confirmation of the choice by the pope and the official proclamation of the new head of the UGCC. All the members of the Synod of Bishops have active votes in the election. Each bishop is entitled to one vote. Voting through an assistant or by sending a letter is prohibited. Only members of the synod, secretary and counting committee can be present in the election room.

The administrator of the church is the chairman of the synod. Two bishops from among the members of the synod and the secretary will be appointed for the counting committee. All those present are obliged to keep in secret everything regarding the election during and after the synod.

The elected person will have two days to accept or reject the choice. Rejection will lead to complete loss of these rights; however, the person can be reelected. The elected bishop will send his own letter to the pope for the approval of the election. After receiving the confirmation, he makes the confession of faith and oath to zealously fulfill his responsibility before the Synod of Bishops. After the proclamation of his election, the enthronement of the new head of the UGCC will be held according to the liturgical books.

Let us remind that at a press conference on February 10 in Kyiv, Patriarch Lubomyr Husar stated that on that day Pope Benedict XVI accepted his abdication of the post of the Supreme Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The head of the UGCC submitted to the pope the request in this regard when he turned 75. “Today, when I no longer have sufficient strength, I wish to handover the leadership to a successor, who would effectively continue this work. For this is not my work and I am not the key factor. The church is the key factor, and the goal of our work is service to the church, and we strive to fulfill this task, as long we can do so effectively,” explained Patriarch Lubomyr.