Delegation of UGCC Bishops Visits U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
On March 5, a delegation of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church bishops, comprising members of the Permanent Synod and Ukrainian Catholic bishops of the United States, visited the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in Washington, DC.
The participants of the meeting, which His Beatitude Sviatoslav presided over, emphasized the acute need for unity and support in the context of the protracted war in Ukraine. The Head of the UGCC stressed the importance of joint efforts to address the humanitarian problems posed by Russian aggression.
During the visit, the UGCC delegation spoke with representatives of renowned Catholic organizations such as Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities USA, and members of the Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe.
The UGCC bishops held discussions with representatives of the International Justice and Peace Committee, the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, the Department of Migration and Refugees, and other USCCB agencies actively involved in aiding Ukrainians enduring the consequences of the war, both in the United States and in Ukraine.
Archbishop Timothy Brolio, president of the USCCB, and Bishop Jeffrey Mark Monforton, chairman of the USCCB’s Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, attended the meeting. It is important to note that both hierarchs visited Ukraine after the full-scale invasion to show their solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
During the meeting, His Beatitude Sviatoslav and other bishops deliberated upon the tragic consequences of the war and the pastoral care that the UGCC provides to Ukrainians amidst this distressing time.
“We are facing new pastoral challenges,” said the Patriarch. “As a Church, we strive to help families who have lost husbands and fathers, whose loved ones are in captivity or missing, and those whose relatives have been seriously injured. We share their grief, pray, and cry with them.”
The delegation is composed of:
- His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the Head and Father of the UGCC;
- Bishop Borys Gudziak, metropolitan of Philadelphia;
- Bishop Włodzimierz Juszczak, bishop of Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Wrocław-Gdańsk;
- Bishop Bohdan Dzyurakh, Apostolic exarch of Germany and Scandinavia;
- Bishop Yosaphat Moschych, bishop of Chernivtsi;
- Bishop Paul Chomnycky, bishop of Stamford;
- Bishop Bohdan Danylo, bishop of Saint Josaphat in Parma;
- Bishop Venedykt Aleksiychuk, bishop of Saint Nicholas in Chicago;
- Bishop Andriy Khimyak, secretary of the UGCC Synod of Bishops.
The UGCC Department for Information
