Pope Francis and Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk. / Mazur/cbcew.org.uk/Олександр Гаврик via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).In a letter dated July 11 to bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, the pope stated, “I combine spiritually with your pain, assuring you of my prayers and involvement, which, knowing the current situation, do not emerge in the media.”
“I pray that your Church and your People do not lose Christian hope in a better tomorrow.
They are inspired by the power of the sacraments and look to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and the bishops of the Church received letters from the pope while they were assembled in synod from July 7 to 15.
There are now about 51 bishops in the synod of the sui iuris Eastern Catholic Church of the Byzantine Rite.
They provide pastoral care all throughout the world, especially in the United States and Ukraine.
The gathering this month is being held in Przemyl, a city in southeast Poland that is only nine miles from the western border of Ukraine and 60 miles from Lviv.
Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the start of the war about five months ago, the synod was scheduled to take place in Kyiv, the country’s capital.
The good of the Church and each believer must be the purpose of the bishops’ conference on the theme of “Synodality and Universality: experience of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church,” according to Pope Francis.
Additionally, he suggested, “it must be a site of gathering and mutual assistance on the shared path of life, in search of new ways to accompany the faithful.”
He cited the example of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church martyrs of the 20th century, who were beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2001 while visiting Lviv.
He added, “But right now we better grasp the circumstances under which those martyrs lived and died, among them bishops, priests, monks, nuns, and the lay people who were victims of the Soviet communist system.
“They stand out for their own suffering people now from heaven.”
I entrust all the Synod Members to their care,” he said.