CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Slovakia: words of newly appointed bishop”My priority will be to remain myself. To be with people, listen to them, to their desires, speak to them about everything they are thirsty for”. With these words, P. Milan Lach SJ, newly appointed auxiliary bishop of the Presov Archeparchy, described his priorities in a new forthcoming mission. The appointment for the office within the Greek Catholic Church in Slovakia by pope Francis was announced on 19 April, making P. Milan Lach SJ – at the age of 39 years – the youngest bishop serving in the country. As he admitted, the appointment took him by surprise, but is prepared to accomplish his future mission with effort and love. “It means to love the Church, Christ’s bride, which is more and more beautiful, even though it may not be seen at the first sight. New challenges, new searching for answers to new questions asked by a man of the contemporary world”, concludes P. Lach. Date of his episcopal ordination is yet to be set, as well as the selection of his episcopal motto. According to archbishop of Presov, Mons. Ján Babjak, new auxiliary bishop should be in charge of the Greek Catholic Faculty of Theology of Presov University and several formation centers of the archeparchy. Other tasks are yet to be defined. “I wish him God’s blessing, good health and a heart open for the good and growth of the Greek Catholic Church. I believe that he would assume this responsible role with great joy and eagerness”, added Mons. Babjak.Ukraine: head of UGCC met with Bartholomew IDuring the trip to Istanbul, organized in the context of the celebration of the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus-Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk and Head of the Department of Foreign Relations of UGCC, bishop Borys Gudziak met with ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew I in his residence in Istanbul on 20 April. “In my opinion, this visit is very important, for the Church of the ancient Constantinople is the Mother-Church of all the Christians of the Kyivan tradition who received the faith in the Baptism of the holy Prince Volodymyr Equal-to-the Apostles”, commented His Beatitude Sviatoslav. According to his statement for the Information Department of the UGCC, the ecumenical patriarch today is an important moral authority both in the Orthodox world and in the Christian world in general. The primate assured the Bartholomew I of the readiness to develop the relations with the Church of Constantinople. In particular, he spoke about the prospects of renewal of the Kyiv Study Group which included theologians and scholars of the Ukrainian Orthodox Churches of USA and Canada and of the UGCC. “Obviously, in the last 20 years, religious circumstances in Ukraine changed fundamentally and, therefore, the renewal of the activity of the group would facilitate the search for ways of inter-denominational understanding and dialogue within the Kyivan Christianity on one hand, and the renewal of the dialogue and possibilities of communion between the Churches, successors of the Kyivan Christianity in Ukraine and the Church of Constantinople, on the other hand”. concluded His Beatitude Sviatoslav.Czech republic: commemorating cardinal Spidlík”Cardinal Spidlík was convinced till the end of his earthly life, that the most substantial and effective answers to urgent questions in the contemporary world consist in the right rediscovering of value of the human heart”, said P. Marko Rupnik, director of “Centro Aletti” in Rome who paid a visit to the Czech republic last week, on the occasion of the third anniversary of deat of cardinal Tomás Spidlík, one of the most renowned experts on spirituality of the Eastern Christianity and great theologian. The speech of P. Rupnik was one of the highlights of the National Pilgrimage of Bishops, Priests and Deacons to Velehrad. Another one of cardinal Spidlik’s close collaborators, Prof. Pavel Ambros from the Olomouc office of Centro Aletti, appreciated “an extraordinary skill of spiritual guidance” of the deceased cardinal, which reflected “the high level of credibility” of his spiritual authority in development of relationships of truth and trust. Cardinal Spidlik, his life and works were commemorated also by the participants of the pilgrimage on the third anniversary of his death on 20 April in Velehrad.
