The following article appeared recently on the official website of the Russian Byzantine Catholic Church: rkcvo.ru. With the permission of its editor, Fr Sergiy Nikolenko, pastor of St Ignatius of Antioch Byzantine Catholic Church in Moscow, it has been translated and edited by Prof. Paul Delaney of the
Univeristy of New Brunswick at Moncton, who forwarded it to us
at St.Michael's NYC for distribution.
Meeting of the clergy of the Ordinariate for Byzantine-rite Catholics in Russia
The regular meeting of the clergy of the Ordinariate for Byzantine-rite Catholics in Russia was held in the Moscow village of Oktyabrsky from 7th to 9th May, 2008. Among the guests at the meeting were Fr Taras Kotsuba, consultant in canon law, and Sister Luiza Ciupa, SNDM, head of the Commission for Catechetics of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The main theme of the meeting was catechetics and its application to parishes of the Byzantine Catholic tradition in the Russian Federation.
On the first day, Sister Luiza, and Nazar Duda, a worker at the Catechetical-Pedagogical Institute in the Ukrainian Catholic University, were introduced. They talked about their activities and about the catechetical situation in the UGCC. The importance of the liturgical catechism, whose purpose is to lead the faithful in conscious participation in worship, was stressed. In response, priests described how and for whom catechetical work was being carried out in the parishes of the Ordinariate for Byzantine-rite Catholics in Russia. Though local communities are still small, there are also many newcomers in Surgut, and in Siberia and other places that have come to work. With regard to catechetics, ministry here is not sufficiently developed.
Priests working in parishes of the Ukrainian tradition described the problem of the assimilation of the younger generations who descend from Ukrainian Greek Catholic families living on the territory of the Russian Federation and who are thus separated from their ancestral traditions. The youth find it difficult to identify with their Ukrainian roots. After that, the Ordinary for Byzantine-rite Catholics in the Russian Federation, Bishop Joseph Werth, explained the current state of affairs in the parishes.
On the second day, reports were made by various commissions of the Ordinariate In discussing the report of the Liturgical Commission, the question of changing the language of worship to modern Russian was broached, as well as the further activities of the commission itself. In the afternoon, Fr Sergiy Nikolenko talked about different aspects of the crisis of faith which mature people are experiencing.
On the third day, reports were made by Bishop Joseph, Sister Luiza, Fr Sergiy, Fr Cyril Mironov and Fr Ivan Lega. In his report, Bishop Joseph stressed the importance of the existence of parish catechetics, the importance of children's summer camps, of training lay cathechists and of catechetical programs. He also thanked the guests for their assistance in conducting this meeting. Sister Luiza, in turn, thanked the assembly for her invitation and for the opportunity to become acquainted with the situation in Russia, and assured them of her readiness, as head of Commission for Catechetics of the UGCC, to cooperate. The head of the Liturgical Commission, Fr Cyril, proposed the creation of a committee to deal with Russian-language liturgical texts. Fr Sergiy spoke about the features of pastoral activities in small parishes, about the possibilities of attracting the laity to catechetics and of the possible use of Ukrainian catechetical programs. He also described the situation of the official website for the Ordinariate for Byzantine-rite Catholics in Russia. Fr Ivan raised the issue of the registration of parishes, as well as other practical administrative matters with regard to parish activities.
In his final speech, Bishop Joseph summarized the meeting.
Edmac
