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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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ugcc.org.ua - The first day of visiting Archdiocese of Peruzzi on May, 17 started with praying and visiting world-famous Franciscan sanctuaries in Assisi.
Before the Service Head of UGCC visited a sanctuary where, according to the legend, saint Francis took off his clothes as sign of denying and started his way of monastic life in poverty.
At 5pm in the church, where saint Francis was baptized, His Beatitude Sviatoslav prayed Mass together with cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, Archbishop of Peruzzi and local bishop Domenico Sorrentino. Hieromonks-Franciscans co-served the archbishops.
After the Service Head of UGCC delivered a sermon to the present ones. Referring to the image of “naked” saint Francis who, with a gesture of renunciation and humiliation became similar to Jesus Christ himself, His Beatitude Sviatoslav explained the sense of a paschal faith: “Following saint Francis, who were bearing the wounds of Christ but who remains today in joy of Christ’s resurrection, we are certain that faith in humiliated, ragged and crucified Christ leads us to the resurrection”.
“Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, - told Head of Church, - in the past century suffered from humiliation, destruction and persecution by soviet government, but 25 years ago, thanks to the paschal faith, it rose from the dead”. His Beatitude Sviatoslav also reminded about “forgotten war in Ukraine and called for praying for its end”.
Head of UGCC visited a grave of saint Francis in the major basilica of Franciscan order, prayed in Saint Claire monastery and met with monks of Franciscan order. He asked them for praying for “ending the war what has been going on for 3 years, unceasingly”.
Secretariat of Head of UGCC in Rome
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CWN - Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill believes that the most important outcome of his historic meeting with Pope Francis was a new public recognition of the persecution of Christians.
In an interview with La Stampa more than a year after the meeting, the Russian Patriarch sidestepped most questions about ecumenical relations between Moscow and Rome. Instead he focused on the question of religous freedom and persecution. He said:
The main subject of the discussion was in fact the “monstrous” condition of Christians in the Middle East and North Africa, a much wider topic than the bilateral agenda. I
Until our meeting with Pope Francis, this topic was almost invisible on international media, and we also saw a great deal of indifference from many international organizations. Afterwards, the situation has changed substantially.
Patriarch Kirill went on to say, in the interview with La Stampa, that Christians should work together, especially in Europe, to reverse dangerous trends: “the destruction of the family, the ideology of trans-humanism and so many others.”
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Glen Cove, NY (risu.org.ua) - The Ukrainian Catholic Bishops of Canada and USA held their annual meeting from May 2nd thru May 4th, 2017 in the Library Building of the Ukrainian Catholic Basilian Fathers at St. Josaphat Monastery located in Glen Cove, NY. A very comfortable and prayerful environment was generously provided through the hospitality of Very Rev. Basilio Salkovski, OSBM, Provincial Superior of the Basilian Fathers of St. Josaphat, OSBM.
Participants in the meeting were Most Rev. Stefan Soroka, Metropolitan for USA and Archbishop of Philadelphia, Most Rev. Lawrence Huculak, OSBM, Metropolitan for Canada and Archbishop of Winnipeg, Most Rev. Paul Chomnycky, OSBM, Bishop of the Eparchy of Stamford, Bishop David Motiuk, Bishop of the Eparchy of Edmonton, Most Rev. Ken Nowakowski, Bishop of the Eparchy of New Westminster, Most Rev. Bryan Bayda, CSsR., Bishop of the Eparchy of Saskatoon, Most Rev. Bohdan Danylo, Bishop of the Eparchy of St. Josaphat in Parma, Bishop John Bura, Auxiliary Bishop for the Philadelphia Archeparchy and Bishop Emeritus Basil Losten of the Eparchy of Stamford.
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CWN - Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill has asked Pope Francis and other religious leaders to exert their influence against a proposal to amend Ukrainian laws to withdraw protection from religious bodies that are under the influence of an “aggressor state.”
Because Ukraine currently defines Russia as an aggressor state, the Patriarch said, the proposal would “threaten the constitutional rights of millions of Ukrainian believers,” who are affiliated with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church subject to the jurisdiction of the Moscow patriachate. He warned that the measure, if passed, could lead to “a wave of violence and new seizures of churches” in Ukraine.
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CWN - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met recently in Moscow with Patriarch Kirill, the head of the largest of the Orthodox churches.
“The preservation of the holy sites, which is part of your lofty responsibility, is something that we take to heart,” the patriarch told Abbas. “We welcome the significant changes taking place in Palestine with regard to the preservation and maintenance of the holy places.”
The Russian government also announced it was spending $4 million to reconstruct an historic street in Bethlehem.
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CWN - Three Syriac bishops have called for internationall protection of the Christian enclaves in northern Iraq, but the Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate of Baghdad has distanced itself from the plea.
Syriac Catholic Archbishop Boutros Moshe of Mosul joined with his Syriac Orthodox counterpart, Archbishop Nicodemus Daud Matti Sharaf, and Orthodox Bishop Timotheos Musa al Shamany of Bartellah, in a call for UN protection of the Nineveh Plains, where tens of thousands of Christians fled their homes during the Islamic State offensive of 2014. Now that the region has been liberated from the Islamic State, the prelates suggested an autonomous administrative district under UN protection.
But the Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate issued a statement indicating that it did not support the plea. The statement cited the stand taken earlier by Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako, who said that the top priority at the moment should be for rebuilding the homes of the villages in the Nineveh Plains. Only after the Christian families have returned and re-established their lives there, should administrative questions be raised, he argued.
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