Ukraine: synod of Greek-Catholic bishopsThe Ukrainian authorities should not permit “provocations based on religious hatred, intolerance and the limitation of freedom and constitutional rights in matters of faith and religious symbols”. That’s the request contained in the final document of the synod of bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC) held in Lviv in recent days. The Greek-Catholic bishops, explains the Religious Information Service of Ukraine (RISU), are referring to the statement in which the eparchy of Odessa of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had claimed that the Greek-Catholic Church is continuing its activities of proselytism and therefore asked that the building of a Greek-Catholic cathedral not be authorized. “The building of a Greek-Catholic cathedral in the Orthodox city of Odessa – says the statement of Metropolitan Ahafanhel – would provoke the indignation and protests of the clergy and all the faithful, creating a situation of inter-religious conflict in our peaceful city, instead of reinforcing peace and social harmony in the region”. Recalling art. 24 of the Ukrainian Constitution, the bishops of the UGCC, both those of Ukraine and those convened from various European countries, America and Australia to the synod in Lviv, declare that the statement of the eparchy of Odessa “contains grave violations of the Constitution” and is injurious to the “interconfessional harmony established in the country in recent years”. The bishops also announce that they are awaiting “an official intervention” on the question from President Viktor Yanukovych. The issues of evangelization and migration were also discussed during the synod. As regards the former, the bishops examined the statutes, previously approved, drawn up by the committee set up for the purpose, and the forthcoming publication of the catechism. As regards migration “over the last 150 years emigration has formed a very important factor in the history of our Church,” said Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, Archbishop Major of Kyiv-Haly, speaking with journalists at the end of the synod. “Our emigrants are scattered all over the world and have a need for a ever growing number of pastors; we must help them in this”. The participants in the synod included 39 Greek-Catholic bishops, Bishop Milan Shashik of the Latin-Catholic Church and some guests from the Czech Republic, Greece and Belarus. The next synod will be held at Kuritiba, in Brazil, in 2011. Hungary: basilica restored at MáriapócsThe Greek-Catholic basilica of Máriapócs, restoration of which has recently been completed, was blessed and inaugurated on 11 September. The liturgy was officiated by Archbishop Cyril Vasil, secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. Also present at the rite were Cardinal Peter Erdo, Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest and President of the Hungarian Bishops’ Conference; Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna; and Ferenc Mádl, former President of the Hungarian Republic. “Between Vienna and Máriapócs the relation is close”, said Cardinal Schönborn in his homily, alluding to the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary that links the two cities. “Why did Mary weep? For whom does she still weep today?” then asked the cardinal, emphasizing that the answer to this question is found in the icon” itself. With her right hand Mary is pointing to the Christ Child to her left, while the hand of Jesus is not raised to bless as in other Byzantine icons, but points to his mother. “Mary, mother of us all – explained the Archbishop of Vienna – is weeping because Jesus is not venerated enough. In Hungary the atheist regime left a spiritual void, characterized by corruption and lies that have poisoned human relations. If the people are to be happy, the country must turn anew to Christ, but this requires the conversion of each”. At the end of his homily Cardinal Schönborn presented the diocesan Bishop Fülöp Kocsis, apostolic governor of Miskolc, with a piece of St. Stephen’s cathedral in Vienna, a relic of the protomartyr St. Stephen, patron saint of the diocese of Hajdúdorog, and one of St. Clement Hofbauer, patron of Vienna. The Marian cult here derives its origins from the tears that welled from the eyes of the image of Mary preserved in the old wooden church of Máriapócs in 1696. A votive church and monastery were built here in the eighteenth century and since then the place has become a goal of devotion and pilgrimage. In 1991 the sanctuary was blessed by John Paul II. The refurbishment of the complex has cost 470 millions florins (1.67 million euros). It also included the restoration of the iconostasis, structural restoration of the belfries, roof, courtyard and heating system, all in the framework of the programme “Faith and salvation – collaboration between Máriapócs and Nyírbátor”, with total funding of 12.5 million euro, 70 % of which was contributed by the EU. The Calvinist and Catholic churches of Nyírbátor were also restored as part of this programme.
