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New Greek-Catholic Exarchate Erected in Ukraine

VATICAN CITY, JULY 29, 2003 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II consented to the erection of the new archiepiscopal exarchate of Odessa-Krym, Ukraine.

According to the custom of the Eastern Churches, the decision was made by the synod of bishops of the Catholic Ukrainian Church, and received the consensus of the Pope -- a pledge of its communion with the universal Church.

The new exarchate, will cover the southeast of the country, regrouping the regions of Odessa, Mykolayiv, Kherson, Kirovohrad, and Crimea (Krym in Ukrainian). It has a population of 8,712 million inhabitants, with 70,000 Greek-Catholics served by 11 priests.

Out of respect for the Russian Orthodox Church, comprising the majority in Ukraine, the Greek-Catholic synod preferred to give the new circumscription the status of exarchate, meaning it will not be considered as part of the territory of the Greek-Catholic Church of Ukraine.

The Pope has also given his consent to the election of Reverend Vasyl Ivasiuk, 43, as first exarch of Odessa-Crimea, assigned to the Titular Episcopal See of Benda.

Monsignor Ivasiuk studied clandestinely in the seminary and also was ordained a priest clandestinely on August 16, 1989.

The Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (UGCC) is the largest of the Eastern Catholic Churches sui juris. It has over 5.5 million faithful.

The UGCC is a church of the Byzantine rite which is in full ecclesial communion with the Pope and acknowledges his spiritual and jurisdictional authority. In this context, "rite" means liturgical, theological, spiritual, and canonical tradition.

The name Greek-Catholic Church was introduced by the Empress Maria Teresa in 1774 to distinguish this Church from the Roman Catholic and Armenian Catholic Churches.

According to statistics given by the Ukrainian Government's Committee on Religious Matters, as of January 1, 2001 the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has: 3,240 communities; 78 monasteries (1,188 monks and nuns); 12 educational institutions (1,588 students); 1,976 priests; and 2,721 churches (306 under construction).

The head of the UGCC is Major Archbishop Lubomyr Cardinal Husar, metropolitan of Lviv and Galicia.

8,712 MILLION inhabitants!?!?! That is more than the population in China. Shouldn't that be 8.712 million? Just wondering.

Joe

Well, as we all know from experience, there are lies, damn lies, statistics and - worst of all - ecclesiastical statistics! Incognitus

792 million people per Priest! A lot of pastoral work is required --- LOL

I think you are correct, Joe, 8.7 million is the right number.

"8,712 MILLION inhabitants!?!?! That is more than the population in China. Shouldn't that be 8.712 million? Just wondering."


It should be, if one forgets that most countries in the world use a comma where we would use a period in numbers, and vice versa. Thus 8,712 million is almost eight and three-quarters million, not eight thousand seven hundred ... million

I think outside of the United States and a few other places, commas are periods and periods are commas. At least I know that's how it is for Spanish-speaking countries and such. Ergo, the confusion.

This is my 1000th post on the Forum. What a treasure this place is. Thank you, Mr. Administrator!

Logos Teen

Congratulations on your '1000' posts! Wishing you many more!

C of S

In the UK and most contries of the British Commonwealth around the world the comma as used is considered correct usage. The use of a 'full stop' or as the Americans call them 'periods' would indicate that there were only 8 point whatever million people. The comma as used indicates that the 8 is eight thousand.

Interesting issue. Today in our modern world with so much knowledge technology and let's say wisdom, we see that simple commas and periods can be misinterpretted and make a very big difference, and we are supposedly speaking the same languge. Now imagine the translation and interpretation of the Holy Scriptures from Aramaic and Ancient Greek to our modern languages of today.I guess it's something to really think about.
Lauro

Municipality of Ukraine Returns Churches to Catholics

ODESSA, JULY 29, 2003 (Zenit.org).- Civic authorities in Ukraine unanimously voted to return Church buildings, confiscated by Bolshevik revolutionaries over 80 years ago, to the Catholic community.

Municipal deputies will hand over the property to the Latin rite Catholic diocese of Odessa-Simferopol, reconstituted by John Paul II in 2002 over the diocese that existed before the revolution.

The buildings will provide Bishop Bronislaw Bernadsky with a desperately needed office and parish hall. In addition, they will also be used for diocesan authorities and the Christian charity organization, Caritas.

With a diocese of 9,000 Roman Catholic lay people, 25 priests and 24 nuns, the buildings will be in large demand. As well, on Monday, the Pope created the exarchate of Odessa-Crime of the Greek-Catholic Church in the diocese.

The communists had also confiscated Odessa city's only Catholic church and turned it into a gym. When it was returned to the Church 10 years ago, the building needed thorough restoration.

Many Catholic communities in the region have had their buildings returned but money shortages are delaying restoration work.

Aid to the Church in Need, the Catholic charity which supports persecuted and deprived Christians, is responding by giving more than $100,000 to Church projects in the area.

The Ukrainian government, with the approval of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych on July 17, is pressuring the Ukrainian Orthodox Church to return the historic Pochayiv monastery to the Russian Orthodox Church. Local councils and organizations such as the Ternopil Regional Council are resisting the hand over, saying that the monastery is important to Ukrainian culture.

The Pochaiv monastery belongs to the Ukrainian people, it's on Ukrainian soil. This Holy place is not only important to us culturally but above all spiritually. If they don't want to give it to the UGCC it's OK!, but at least give it to a Ukrainian Church be it the UAOC or the Ukrainian Orthodox Church - KP. Some people don't know history nor geography I guess.
Lauro

According to my own experience, Italy is one of the countries where comas are used to separate units and fractions.

And refering to Logos Teen's comment, in the Spanish speaking country where I live, the use is similar to the US: comas to separate thousands and units and periods between units and fractions, but sometines we use apostrophes between millions and thousands.

Another comment: We say one thousand million for what you call one billion. We whould say one billion for 1,000,000,000,000. So, in this country the series is one, ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, o

According to my own experience, Italy is one of the countries where comas are used to separate units and fractions.

And refering to Logos Teen's comment, in the Spanish speaking country where I live, the use is similar to the US: comas to separate thousands and units and periods between units and fractions, but sometines we use apostrophes between millions and thousands.

Another comment: We say one thousand million for what you call one billion. We whould say one billion for 1,000,000,000,000. So, in this country the series is one, ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand, one million, ten million, one hundred million, one thousand million, ten thousand million, one hundred thousand million, one billion, ten billion....So, one billion is one million million.

The reality is not the same everywhere.

Su hermano en Cristo.