Strategy of UGCC for Ten Years Will Concentrate on Active Parish Life

"Lord God instructed the church to fulfill the mission of preaching the good news, that is evangelization. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church as an integral part of the Ecumenical Church also participates in the mission,” said the head of the UGCC, Patriarch Sviatoslav, in his introductory address at a press conference at UNIAN on October 5, 2011, as he talked about the strategy for development of the UGCC for the period until 2020.

According to the hierarch, to fulfill the mission of the church, the bishops decided to define the strategy of activity of the church for the coming years as clearly as possible. To simplify the implementation of the project and to better monitor its course, a period of ten years was determined. The parish, led by the local bishop who is the symbol of unity within it, is the main component of the process of evangelization. For it is in the parish that the believers usually have their first encounters with Christ either through the participation in the Divine Liturgy on Sunday or through a baptism, wedding or funeral,” said the head of UGCC as he talked about the rational of the strategy, namely, the living parish.

“The development of the parish community should be our priority. By fostering and reviving communities we foster and vivify the whole Church,” stressed Patriarch Sviatoslav.

The Synod of Bishops, according to the patriarch, decided to concentrate the efforts of the whole church on developing the living parish, which is “the best means to achieve the goals of evangelization.” “The living and open parish will bring closer to Christ both those who practice the faith regularly and those who do so seldom (on Christmas and Easter) or do not do so at all,” explained Patriarch Sviatoslav, the Information Department of UGCC reported.