Ukrainian Greek Catholic Head Visits USA

26.09.2011, 14:00
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Head Visits USA - фото 1
Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Patriarch Sviatoslav is making his first pastoral trip to the United States. The hierarch is visiting Chicago where he participates in the celebratory events on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Eparchy of St. Nicholas of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

SviatoslavChicago.jpgHead of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Patriarch Sviatoslav is making his first pastoral trip to the United States. The hierarch is visiting Chicago where he participates in the celebratory events on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Eparchy of St. Nicholas of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

According to the press service of the UGCC, on September 22, the head of UGCC was met at the airport by Eparch of Chicago Bishop Richard (Seminak) and representatives of the clergy and laymen.

On the next day, the hierarch celebrated a liturgy for pupils and teachers of the School of St. Nicholas in Chicago. The primate met with the pupils and teachers, and then with the journalists.

In the evening of that day, the head of the UGCC visited a special exhibition on the history of development of the Eparchy of St. Nicholas in Chicago at the Ukrainian National Museum. The exhibits included many religious editions and various historic documents, as well as personal belongings of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptysky who visited the Parish of St. Nicholas in Chicago twice, in 1910 and 1922.

“One can say without exaggeration that the jubilee marks a special moment of God’s grace, the power of the Holy Spirit with which the Lord builds and develops His Church and spreads His kingdom among us,” said the hierarch at the anniversary banquet.

According to Patriarch Sviatoslav, the existence of the eparchy as an important part of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, its establishment, activity and this jubilee are a great gift of God.