New UGCC pastoral care center opened in West Berlin
From now on, Greek Catholics in Berlin will celebrate the Divine Liturgy at 9:00 AM every Sunday in the Church of the Annunciation, a church of the former “Pink Sisters” monastery in Westend.
A short time ago, this Catholic monastic order of the Sisters of the Servants of the Holy Spirit was active in Berlin. Still, in January 2022, due to the lack of new vocations and the advanced age of most of them, the nuns were forced to close and leave their monastery after 86 years of continuous prayer and adoration of the Holy Eucharist in this church.
The sisters’ vocation was to take upon themselves the various anguish and sorrows of the world and, through constant prayer and Eucharistic adoration, to ask God for the necessary graces and help for those in need. Until the end, they stayed in round-the-clock prayer in this church and had to leave it with an aching heart a year and a half ago.
After the closure of the monastery, the Vatican leased the premises to a private school run by the third-generation von Schele family (Schele Schule). After February 24, 2022, the new owners gave shelter to more than 60 of our women and children who fled the war in Ukraine and are still living in the monastery. The doors of the private school, which will soon accept new students, are also open to many Ukrainian children.
The new tenants want to preserve the sanctity of the church as a place of prayer, the administration of the Holy Mysteries, and the presence of God. At their invitation and with the permission of the church authorities, regular Sunday services will be held here in the Ukrainian language in the Byzantine rite.
Address of the church: Bayernallee 31, 14052 Berlin
based on the materials of Apostolic Exarchate in Germany and Scandinavia
