Date, Place and Theme of Next Synod of UGCC Announced
Members of the Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) passed a decision to proclaim 2012 the year of Christian vocation with an emphasis on the vocation of the laity. By this decision the bishops also announced the main theme of the next Synod of Bishops of the UGCC – Laity. The synod will consider the activity of the laity in parish communities, the Information Department of the UGCC reported.
During a discussion on this subject, the synod fathers stressed the importance of laity realizing their joint responsibility for the condition of the church and its mission in the modern world. It is also about the more active involvement of laity in evangelization, supporting laymen in their efforts to develop their spiritual life. The Synod of Bishops asked the head of the church, Patriarch Sviatoslav, to address all the faithful of the UGCC with a special pastoral letter on the vocation of laity in the church.
The last day of the synod was used for editing the letters from the synod to various church and secular figures, in particular, Ukraine’s president, Brazilian president, heads of Bishops’ Conferences of Brazil, Argentina and other countries of Latin America, where faithful of the UGCC live, and the president of the Conference of Bishops of Latin America (CELAM).
Letters were also sent to Pope Benedict XVI and the Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops of the North and South America.
This year’s meetings of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC ended in a celebratory public prayer to the Holy Virgin. On September 11, in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Curitiba, the members of the Synod led by the head of the church celebrated a Hierarchical Liturgy. 
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