NEW PASTORAL COUNCIL HOLDS FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
December 5, 2019
NEWLY CREATED PASTORAL COUNCIL LAYS FOUNDATION FOR PASTORAL LIFE OF THE CHURCH
On morning of the second day of the General Assembly of the newly created Pastoral Council of the Patriarchal Curia, the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav presented each designated member with a decree of appointment. The appointment for a five-year term, was presented to some 37 priests and bishops from around the world, wherever the Ukrainian Catholic Church is established in the form of eparchies, exarchates or visitator administrations.
The certificate explains that the newly created 'Pastoral Council' is established within the context of the Patriarchal Curia of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and is to promote active input into the work of the Curia as the branches of the Curia develop pastoral programs and efforts for the whole Church throughout the world. The Patriarchal Curia can be compared to the Vatican Curia or the ministry departments of a civil government. They strive to promote the implementation of various programs in a variety if areas for the good of all members of the Church.
The Vibrant Parish mandate, that inspired the church for almost a decade, concluded at the 2019 September Synod of Bishops. The Pastoral Council is an organic development from the 'Vibrant Parish' initiative that began in 2011 and involved the whole Church up to this time. This 9-year effort helped in developing a truly global network of coordinators that both represented their eparchies to the wider Church and, at the same time, brought back to their respective eparchies the proposals and developmental strategies of the Vibrant Parish team.
The newly created Pastoral Council provides an environment for the many Counsellors from all eparchies to work together with their peers on the pastoral needs of the Church. It foresees continuous communication and coordination of all structures of the Church collaborating on concrete pastoral planning and realizing the decisions of the Synod Bishops of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
In his opening address to the Counsellors, His Beatitude Sviatoslav said that they are to, "help your Bishops to realize the decisions of the Synod in the local setting. And when the new pastoral plan is finalized, you will be the ones that will coordinate its implementation... I expect you to be my advisors, but you must speak the truth".
Canon lawyer Rev. Dr. Vitaliy Tokar explained that, "the Counsellors have the opportunity and the task of proposing various legislative initiatives that will be reviewed by the ultimate legislative body of the Church - the Synod of Bishops"
Prior to the presentation of the appointment decrees, Fr. Andriy Maksymovych, the Administrator of the Patriarchal Curia, pointed out that the very geography of the Counsellors underscores the globality of our Church. He also explained that about 35 percent of the Curia now resides in Kyiv, about 55 percent in Lviv, and departments in Rome, Odesa and Ivano-Frankivsk. This suggests a network of possibilities of the Church and that the Pastoral Council can take advantage of this by working more closely with the various commissions and executive of the Curia.
The appointed Counsellors include*:
Hryvna, Fr. Thomas (Toronto, Canada)
Koloshnjai, Fr. Janko (Saskatoon, Canada)
Kwiatkowski, Fr. Michael (Winnipeg, Canada)
Malysh, Fr. Andrew (New Westminster, Canada)
Angelov, Fr. Kyril (USA)
Borovy, Fr. Volodymyr (Ukraine)
Charnel, Fr. Zmitser (Belorus)
Chudiovych, Fr. Basil (Ukaine)
Dankevych, Fr. John (Ukraine)
Diadya, Fr. Alexander (Ukraine)
Drapala, Fr. Myroslav (Poland)
Gudz, Fr. John (Portugal)
Hrutsa, Bishop Volodymyr Hrutsa (Lviv, Ukraine)
Kaskiv, Fr. Oleh (Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine)
Kelty, Fr. Brian (Australia)
Kitseliuk, Fr. John (Ukraine)
Kolasa, Fr. Yurij (Austria)
Komar, Bishop Gregory (Drohobych, Ukraine)
Kostetsky, Fr. Nicholas (Poland)
Kotkevych, Fr. Volodymyr (Ukraine)
Kovbych, Fr. Basil (Brasil)
Kozak, Fr. Vitaly (Ukraine)
Kozlynsky, Bishop Daniel (Argentina)
Lega, Fr. John (Russia)
Maksymtsiv, Fr. Roman (Germany)
Manyshyn, Bishop Bohdan (Stryj, Ukraine)
Matviivsky, Fr. Mykola (Great Britain)
Panteliuk, Fr. Basil (Ukraine)
Romankiv, Fr. Andrew (USA)
Serbay, Fr. Paul (Brasil)
Stasiuk, Fr. George (Spain)
Tretiak, Fr. John (Ukraine)
Vasyliv, Fr. Sergius (Ukraine)
Voloshyn, Fr. Volodymyr (Italy)
Yanovych, Fr. Richard (USA)
Zabolotny, Fr. Volodymyr (Ukraine)
The Pastoral Council was only created in June of 2019. Aside from the above-mentioned Counsellors, an important component of this new body are the structures of the Patriarchal Curia that are concerned with the pastoral life of the Church. Bishop Ken Nowakowski from Canada was appointed to serve as the Chair of the Pastoral Council. The principal mandate of the Pastoral Council is to coordinate and unify the activity of the structures of the Patriarchal Curia and to continue to develop and implement a successful strategic pastoral plan for the UGCC throughout the world wherever Ukrainian Catholics organize themselves as part of the living Mystical Body of Christ - the Church.
[Source: Information Department UGCC]
[See also: General Assembly]
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* names translated from Ukrainian text
