Bishop Bohdan Manyshyn Heads the UGCC Military Chaplaincy Department
The Head of the UGCC, His Beatitude Sviatoslav, spoke about the changes in the Department of Military Chaplaincy of the UGCC on the program “Open Church” on Zhyve TV.
Bishop Bohdan Manyshyn, photo by the press service of the Stryi Eparchy of the UGCC
“Today, our Department of Military Chaplaincy is at a stage of dynamic development. In fact, it functions as a separate military diocese, although we do not have such a structure according to the laws of Ukraine,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.
The Law of Ukraine “On the Service of Military Chaplaincy” envisages the government’s appeal to churches and religious organizations to allocate a predetermined number of clergy for military chaplaincy. According to this procedure, the de facto bishop of military chaplains now serves as the Head of the Church.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav announced that Auxiliary Bishop Bohdan Manyshyn of the Stryi Eparchy of the UGCC was appointed as the new head of the Department of Military Chaplaincy. He now has the relevant competence to assign responsibilities within this role. Bishop Bohdan will, in fact, act as a military ordinarian for chaplains.
“We have military chaplains serving at the level of individual priests in separate military units. The Department of Military Chaplaincy, which oversees these priests, is an institution under whose jurisdiction they operate, so this structure needs a separate bishop,” said the Head of the UGCC.
“We want to support our priests better each time, to accompany them so that they feel their Mother Church not only sent them to the army but also accompanies them. They will always have someone to whom they can turn with their needs, doubts, and questions, which are so overwhelming today during this terrible war,” said His Beatitude Sviatoslav. According to the Head of the UGCC, “these are technical, delicate matters, but they have remarkable consequences in the practical ministry of our priests.”
It should be noted that, according to the Law of Ukraine “On the Military Chaplaincy Service,” a military chaplain is a serviceman of the Armed Forces, National Guard, or State Border Guard Service, with the only exception that a chaplain is not entitled to carry weapons.
The UGCC Department for Information
