Greek Catholics to hold All-Ukrainian Forum “Social Service of the Family" in Kyiv

On Saturday, October 12, 2019, the All-Ukrainian Forum of social service of the UGCC entitled "Social Service of the Family" will be held in Kyiv for the third time. The organizers of the event – the Department of Social Service of the UGCC together with Caritas Ukraine and the charitable Organization "Lviv Educational Foundation". It is reported by the Catholic Observer.

"Since the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and religious organizations declared the year of 2019 to be the Year of the Family, we decided to devote the Forum to the theme of the family. On the one hand, we are talking about the social service that the community and parish should carry out for the family, and on the other – how to attract Ukrainian families to social service," said Fr Andriy Nahirnyak, Vice-President of Caritas Ukraine, Deputy Chairman of the Department of Social Service of the UGCC.

"The forum will be held in the context of the implementation of the strategy for the development of social Ministry of the UGCC, which was approved at the Synod of Bishops in 2016. In particular, this measure is designed to highlight the activities that already exist in parishes at the level of local (religious) communities," Fr Andriy said.

According to the priest, the forum will help the participants – representatives of dioceses and parishes – to exchange experiences of their Ministry, acquire useful contacts and open new opportunities and prospects for their Ministry.

The event will begin at 9.00 with the Divine Liturgy in the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection 5 Mykilsko-Slobidska street), which will be led by Bishop Vasily Tuchapets, Chairman of the UGCC Department for Social Service. Subsequently, the event will continue on the territory of the International Exhibition Center (Brovarsky Avenue, 15). The forum will be opened by the Father and Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

In total, during the event, the topics of family volunteering in the parish and family tutoring (assistance in training, transfer of experience) will be considered. In addition, the speakers will tell the participants about various forms of parish social service:

*11:30 - Family volunteering in the parish: the Italian experience. Professor Giancarlo Cursi, a lecturer at the Pontifical Salesian University.

*12:30 - Family tutoring: the experience of family support centers. Oksana Ivankova-Stetsyuk, deputy head of the Department of Social Anthropology, the Institute of Ethnology of NAS of Ukraine, leading researcher, doctor of sociology.

*12:45 - School of volunteering in the East: the experience of the charity foundation "Caritas Kramatorsk".

*13:00 - the Studied of the Vibrant Parishes: challenges and experiences. Mariana Kashchak, Executive Director of the charitable organization "Lviv Educational Foundation".

*13:20 - Social service to children in Slavutych: the experience of creating a social hub at the parish. Archpriest Yuri Lohasa, rector of the Church of the Mother of God of Perpetual Help in the city of Slavutych, Kyiv region.

*13:40 - Social service in Kolomyia. Protosingel of Kolomiya eparchy of the UGCC Fr Roman Kitselyuk, priest of the Church of the Presentation of the Lord to the Temple in Kolomyia.

Participants will be able to delve into the practical dimension of each report while working in groups. By the way, the groups are led by speakers and their colleagues:

No.1 School of volunteering.

No.2 Family volunteering.

No.3 Family tutoring.

No.4 Social service as a component of a vibrant parish.

No.5 Deinstitutionalization in practice.

No. 6 Active parenthood. Initiative "Tato.net"

No.7 Organization of social service to children.

No.8 Organization of social service in the parish.

More information about the social service of the UGCC can be found here – http://social.ugcc.org.ua/.