www.ugcc.ua - On 13 January 2015, the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church in Youngstown, OH welcomed the members of the Youngstown-Warren Chapter of the ecumenical Society of St. John Chrysostom for the their consecutive meeting. The gathering began at 7 pm with a Small Compline in the church, led by Father Lubomyr Zhybak, Administrator of the Holy Trinity Church, after which everyone adjourned to the church hall for refreshments, brief business meeting and a talk presented by Fr. Lubomyr titled “The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Current Conflict in Ukraine.” In his presentation, Fr. Lubomyr attempted to shed some light on the role of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church during the current conflict in Ukraine and the difficulties and challenges that the Church has been facing since the onset of the revolution of dignity, as it was named since the beginning of the protests in Kyiv. The presentation was followed by a Q&A session during which Fr. Lubomyr answered all the ensued questions. At the end, Mr. Richard Mattiussi, the chapter’s secretary, who spoke on behalf of the chapter’s chairman, Mr. Vito Carchedi, who could not come for the meeting, thanked Fr. Lubomyr for having agreed to speak on the afore-mentioned topic as well as expressed thankfulness to him and his parishioners for having warmly welcomed the members of the society to their church.
Note: The Society of Saint John Chrysostom is an ecumenical group of clergy and lay people, organized for the purpose of promoting an understanding of Eastern Christianity and has been in existence in England since 1926 and in the United States since 1998. The society organizes Orientale Lumen Conferences that have been held annually since 1997 in Washington, D.C. and other cities worldwide. Offering a unique opportunity for laypersons and clergy to meet, discuss topics of mutual interest, and learn from each other’s traditions, Orientale Lumen conferences provide a “grass roots” approach to ecumenical dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches (source: http://www.byzcath.org/stjohnchrysostom/).