Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Reflect on the Issue of Migration

The next Synod of Bishops Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church will be held September 2-9, 2010, in Lviv. On this occasion, Head of the Church Patriarch Lubomyr Husar asked the faithful to “pray for the success of this synod.”

"This is a very important event in the life of the church, as the synod gathers all our bishops from Ukraine and diaspora to jointly reflect on the needs of our church and to make appropriate decisions," explains the patriarch.

This year's synod will consider two main topics: evangelization and migration. "Regarding the first topic, we will consider how to help people to meet Jesus Christ via our example, our brotherly words. By studying the other subject, we will pay attention to our emigrants, especially those who are in countries where there is no structures of our church and how they can stay faithful to their church and its traditions," says Patriarch Lubomyr.

He asks all the believers to pray "Our Father" and "Hail Mary" for the intentions of the synod. This call the hierarchy instructs priests to read during Liturgies August 28 and Sunday, August 29.

The patriarch explains the importance of the prayer: "The synod is not a parliament where something is decided by the majority. A synod is a search for the will of God by those entrusted with leading the church."