UGCC Pastoral Council Convenes to Welcome New Deputy Chairman and Secretary Appointed by the UGCC Head
On October 3, the Patriarchal House in Lviv hosted a meeting of the Pastoral Council of the Patriarchal Curia of the UGCC, during which the new deputy chairman and secretary were presented with naming decrees.
His Beatitude Sviatoslav, the Father and Head of the UGCC, has appointed Bishop Andriy Khimyak as Deputy Chairman and Fr. Yuriy Chudyak as Secretary of the Pastoral Council. Bishop Andriy Khimyak also serves as the Auxiliary Bishop of the Kyiv Archeparchy and Secretary of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC.
At the beginning of the meeting, the chairman of the Pastoral Council, Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, greeted all the participants and noted the amendments that the Synod of Bishops made to the Regulations on the Pastoral Council of the Patriarchal Curia of the UGCC this year. Then, the technical secretary of the Council, Fr. Andriy Shestak, read the decrees naming Bishop Andriy Khimyak as deputy chairman of the Pastoral Council and Fr. Yuriy Chudyak, Secretary of the Pastoral Council.
Before addressing the employees of the structures of the Patriarchal Curia present at the meeting, Bishop Andriy Khimyak presented a patriarchal letter of His Beatitude Sviatoslav to the head of the UGCC Commission for Health Care Pastoral Care, Sr. Sevastiana Karvatska, on the occasion of her 50th birthday anniversary.
“Appreciating your zeal for the glory of God,” reads the letter of His Beatitude Sviatoslav to the Sr. Sevastiana, “namely: faithful testimony of the Gospel life through the vows of poverty, obedience and purity; cultivation of the spirit of Christian love; sacrificial service in the Health Care Pastoral Care Commission, which has been crowned with numerous fruits, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic and the war against the Russian aggressor, we express our heartfelt gratitude and express our recognition and praise. For all that you have accomplished in the silence of your cell and the clamor of parish and social life, may the merciful Lord reward you a hundredfold. We place your future life and ministry in His hands. And may the Most Holy Virgin Mary be your intercessor and helper in all your endeavors for the glory of God and the good of the Church.”
Addressing the members of the Pastoral Council, Bishop Andriy Khimyak thanked them for the warm reception on the occasion of the beginning of his and Fr. Yuriy’s new service. “This is an expression of trust, for which we are grateful and will try to live up to. This is not a reform of the Council but a natural turnover of employees. We feel the need for closer communication and also to strengthen the work of Bishop Kenneth, who is physically far away for objective reasons,” said the bishop.
The deputy chairman of the Pastoral Council described two areas of activity of the Council. The first is the activity of each commission, which draws up plans and tasks. The second is to serve the structures of the UGCC outside Ukraine.
Father Yuriy Chudyak thanked His Beatitude Sviatoslav for his trust and Metropolitan Ihor Vozniak for his blessing. “Bishop Andriy said he would like to see me as someone who generates ideas. We already have a Pastoral Plan to be implemented by 2030, though. We have a good backbone. I would see my responsibilities primarily in systematic work. Having already gained some experience as a rector and experience as a synkel for clergy, I understand that systemic cooperation is of utmost importance,” said the newly appointed secretary of the Pastoral Council.
In conclusion, the deputy chairman of the Pastoral Council scheduled a meeting with each of its structures for the near future.
Reference
The Pastoral Council is an association of commissions of the UGCC. The purpose of the Pastoral Council is to provide effective ministry of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church to all its faithful, irrespective of their place of residence and other characteristics. According to the chairman of the Pastoral Council, His Grace Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, “Our pastoral strategy is that we set ourselves the task of helping every believer. We ask ourselves: how to reach out to our faithful worldwide and bring them the good news, even where we do not have our structures?”
The Pastoral Council consists of the following structures:
- Council on Evangelization at the Head of the UGCC
- UGCC Patriarchal Catechetical Commission
- UGCC Patriarchal Liturgical Commission
- UGCC Patriarchal Commission for Clergy
- UGCC Patriarchal Commission for Monasticism
- UGCC Department of Social Services
- UGCC Pastoral Migration Department
- UGCC Commission for Education and Formation
- UGCC Commission for Youth
- UGCC Commission for Family and Laity
- UGCC Commission for Pastoral Health Care in the Penitentiary System of Ukraine
- UGCC Department of Military Chaplaincy
- UGCC Department of Prison Chaplaincy
- UGCC Department of the Maritime Apostolate
- UGCC Bureau of Ecology
- UGCC Bureau of New Religious Movements and Sects
