Local people in ATO zone ask authorities to set up a Greek Catholic parish, Head of the UGCC says
Residents of the liberated Donbas territories have positive attitude towards the activities of Greek Catholic priests. Many people even turn to the authorities asking to help them organize a UGCC parish.
Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) said it in a commentary to Vatican Radio, the UGCC Information Department reports.
“We provide pastoral care to our soldiers and all those who need it. In recent months we have seen an interesting phenomenon in the places of permanent deployment of our military units: in the ATO zone many people turn to local authorities asking to set up Greek Catholic parishes. I think they saw a good example of a true pastor in the person of the Greek Catholic military chaplain.”
Patriarch Sviatoslav said that first of all, military chaplain is a priest for the military and not for civilians. However, it is a challenge that the local people show such respect of the UGCC, as we need to know how to properly respond to this, how to serve those people who are looking for the Word of God in the UGCC.
The hierarch also informed that in Crimea, the UGCC strives to provide pastoral care for the faithful despite the so-called “re-registration process in compliance with Russian law.”“The time when this can be done, will end on January 1, 2016. At present, neither of our communities has been re-registered, even though I know that such attempts have been made by our faithful. We still do not know exactly so far what will be the fate of Greek Catholics in Crimea after January 1, but we try to provide pastoral care for our faithful if circumstances allow,” the patriarch said.
