CHURCHES IN BRIEF
Slovakia/Czech republic/Poland: pilgrimage of three nationsThe faithful from three neighbouring countries – Slovakia, Czech republic and Poland met at the boundary on 24 August to participate at the holy mass celebrating good relations and mutual cooperation of their inhabitants. 1500 pilgrims were led by three bishops – Mons. Tomás Galis from Zilina (Slovakia), Mons. Frantisek Václav Lobkowicz from Ostrava-Opava (Czech republic) and Mons. Piotr Greger from Poland. The homily was pronounced by the Czech bishop who draw the attention to the common roots and spiritual understanding of the neighbouring nations. He appealed to the representatives of public life to remember the values of the Gospel and dignity of a man from the moment of conception until natural death, while creating the respective legislative norms. The pilgrimage was associated with two smaller events for young people. The first one was a meeting of youth animators from all three countries who discussed a project “Arch of Youth” supporting traditions and spirituality of young people. Upon the agreement, the first official meeting of a working group will take place on 19 September. The second event was a range of workshops focused on development and support of traditional culture. The idea of joint pilgrimages to the border started 5 years ago, upon the initiative of Slovak bishop Tomás Galis. Ukraine: consacration of patriarchal cathedralThe Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) celebrated the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Kyiv-Rus’ on 17-18 August. One of the main events associated with the occasion was a consecration of a new Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ in Kyiv by His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, major archbishop of Kyiv-Halych. The relics of the apostles Peter, Paul and Andrew, popes Clement of Rome and St. Martin, who died on Ukrainian lands, St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, and the blessed martyrs of the twentieth century were placed in the four corners and in the center of the main altar during the consecration. The Patriarchal Cathedral “is a visual sign of the unity and independence of our Church both in Ukraine and far beyond its borders”, said the head of UGCC in his sermon on the occasion. As he stressed, “today’s Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is the direct descendant of the Church of Volodymyr’s Baptism, whose heritage we share with others who are closely connected to us in friendship, common faith and traditions, although not in complete unity. Then in the Sacrament of Baptism we died and resurrected in the Dnipro waters. Today, once again, our Church celebrates its renewal after centuries of cruel destruction on this land. This new cathedral in Kyiv stands as a reminder of the greatness of God’s Resurrection and shines to the whole world as a New Jerusalem!” Pilgrims from Ukraine, Canada, USA, Poland, Argentina, Australia and Kazakhstan participated at the celebration.Russia: Mons. Kondrusiewicz on “unity of Christ’s teaching”The city of Kazan in Russia hosted a conference dedicated to the Year of Faith and the 5th anniversary of consacration of the Orthodox Church of the Elevation of the Holy Cross on 23-25 August, with participation of Mons. Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, Belarussian Catholic archbishop of Minsk-Mogilev, as a special guest. Participants of the conference reflected over the role of faith in a modern world and expressed their concern over the progressing process of secularization. As they agreed, this situation requires a progress in evangelization with concrete steps to be taken. In his sermon, archbishop Kondrusiewicz focused on the role of the Catholic Church in the new evangelization. As he said, it’s a place where people can hear the God’s word and show their solidarity with the needy through charitable work. The prelate put special emphasis on the “unity of Christ’s teaching”. The words of Mons. Kondrusiewcz found a warm welcome among the Russian faithful. Many of them remember him from his service in Russia that ended in 2007, where he was succeeded in the office of archbishop metropolitan of the diocese of the Mother of God in Moscow by Mons. Paolo Pezzi.
