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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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Celebrations to mark full communion with the Bishop of Rome since 1724 will include liturgical celebrations, publications and insights of a historical, theological and ecumenical nature
By La Croix International staff | June 27, 2023
The Melkite Greek-Catholic Church has begun preparations for the 300th anniversary of full union with the Church of Rome.
Celebrations will commence in Damascus on November 11, with a solemn liturgy presided by Patriarch Youssef (Joseph) Absi of Antiochia in Syria, head of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.
According to a press release issued by the Synod of Melkite Bishops, the program to celebrate the anniversary will include "liturgical celebrations, study conferences, publications and insights on historical, theological and ecumenical nature, as well as exhibitions on the spiritual and artistic heritage preserved by the Melkite communities in the Middle East."
The Greek Melkite Catholic Church has been in full communion with Rome since 1724, following a schism in the Greek Church of Antioch. The schism came after the election of Seraphim Tanas as Patriarch of Antioch that year was contested by the Patriarch of Constantinople. Seraphim Tanas, who took the name Kyrillos VI, was excommunicated by the Patriarch of Constantinople who installed Sivestro of Aleppo on the seat of Antioch. Kyrillos then fled to Lebanon to avoid being persecuted. Some of these Christians, Catholicized by Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries then present in the Middle East opted to enter into communion with the Holy See.
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Metropolitan Borys Gudziak, Ukrainian Catholic Archbishop of Philadelphia, announces the following appointments:
Rev. Roman Oliynyk appointed Pastor of Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Melrose Park, PA (effective August 1, 2023)
Rev. Oleh Kuts appointed Administrator of Patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in McAdoo, PA, and St. Michael Church in Hazleton, PA (effective August 1, 2023)
Rev. Volodymyr Kozak appointed Administrator of St. Vladimir Church in Palmerton, PA (effective July 1, 2023)
Rev Volodymyr Radko appointed Master of Episcopal ceremonies (effective July 1, 2023)
May our Lord bless these priests in the new assignments.
Source: https://ukrarcheparchy.us/church-news/new-assignments-at-the-archeparchy
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royalexaminer.com - On Sunday, June 4, Front Royal is going to be honored by a visit from the Most Reverend Borys Gudziak, the Metropolitan-Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy (archdiocese) of Philadelphia. The Archbishop will be in town to consecrate the Ukrainian Catholic Church of Saints Joachim and Anna, located at 1396 Linden Street in Front Royal.
Saints Joachim and Anna began in 2015 as a mission of the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family in Washington, D.C., and acquired the Linden Street property in November 2021.
The parish, which currently has 41 registered households, is served by Administrator Fr. Robert Hitchens, originally of Pennsylvania, and parochial vicar Fr. Andrii Chornopyskyi, originally of Ukraine, who take turns driving out from D. C. Divine Liturgy is Sunday at 10:30 a.m., preceded by Confession.
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On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the historic meeting of their predecessors, Pope Saint Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III, 11.05.2023
vatican.va - This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis received in audience His Holiness Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, for the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the historic meeting of their predecessors, Pope Saint Paul VI and Pope Shenouda III (1973-2023). After the private meeting and the presentation of the delegations, before the exchange of gifts, both delivered an address. At the end, the Holy Father and the Patriarch Tawadros proceeded to the Redemptoris Mater Chapel for a moment of joint prayer.
The following is the address delivered by the Pope during the meeting:
Address of the Holy Father
Your Holiness! Dear brothers in Christ!
“This is the day that the Lord has made: let us rejoice and be glad in it!”. It was with this Paschal acclamation, fifty years ago, that Pope Saint Paul VI welcomed your venerable predecessor, Pope Shenouda III, to Saint Peter’s Basilica. It is with the same acclamation that I welcome you today, beloved brother and dear friend Tawadros. I thank you from my heart for accepting my invitation to commemorate together the jubilee of this historic event in 1973, as well as the tenth anniversary of our first meeting in 2013.
In the ecumenical journey, it is important always to look ahead. Cultivating in the heart a healthy impatience and an ardent desire for unity, we must be, like the apostle Paul, "straining forward to what lies ahead” (cf. Phil 3:13), and continually asking ourselves, “Quanta est nobis via?” – How far do we still have to go? However, it is also necessary to remember, especially in times of discouragement, to rejoice in the path already travelled and to draw on the fervour of the pioneers who have gone before us. Looking ahead and remembering. Yet, it is undoubtedly all the more incumbent on us to look up, to thank the Lord for the steps we have taken and to beseech Him to give us the gift of the longed-for unity.
To thank and to supplicate. This is the purpose of our commemoration today. The meeting of our Predecessors, which took place in Rome from 9 to 13 May 1973, marked a historic milestone in relations between the See of Saint Peter and the See of Saint Mark. It was the first meeting between a Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church and a Bishop of Rome. It also marked the end of a theological dispute dating back to the Council of Chalcedon, thanks to the signing on 10 May 1973 of a memorable joint Christological declaration, which later served as an inspiration for similar agreements with the other Eastern Orthodox Churches.
The meeting led to the creation of the joint international commission between the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church, which in 1979 adopted the pioneering Principles to guide the search for unity between the Catholic Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church, signed by Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Shenouda III, which stated in prophetic words that “the unity we envision does not mean the absorption of one by the other or the domination of one over the other. It is at the service of each one to help him or her better live out the specific gifts he or she has received from the Spirit of God”.
This joint Commission then opened the way to the birth of a fruitful dialogue between the Catholic Church and the entire family of eastern Orthodox Churches, which held its first meeting in 2004 in Cairo, hosted by His Holiness Shenouda. I thank the Coptic Orthodox Church for its commitment to this theological dialogue. I am also grateful to His Holiness for the fraternal attention he continues to pay to the Coptic Catholic Church, proximity that found praiseworthy expression in the creation of the National Council of Christian Churches in Egypt.
As can be seen, the meeting of our distinguished Predecessors has never ceased to fear fruit in the journey of our Churches towards full communion. It is also in remembrance of the 1973 meeting that Your Holiness came to me for the first time on 10 May 2013, a few months after your enthronement and a few weeks after the beginning of my pontificate. On that occasion, you proposed to celebrate every 10 May as the “Day of friendship between Copts and Catholics”, which since then is punctually celebrated by our Churches.
When speaking of friendship, I am reminded of the famous eighth-century Coptic icon depicting the Lord resting his hand on the shoulder of his friend, the holy monk Mena of Egypt. This icon is sometimes called the “icon of friendship” because the Lord seems to want to accompany his friend and walk with him. Similarly, the bonds of friendship between our Churches are rooted in the friendship of Jesus Christ Himself with all His disciples whom He calls "friends" (cf. Jn 15:15), and whom He accompanies on their journey, as He did with the pilgrims of Emmaus.
In this journey of friendship we are also accompanied by the martyrs, who testify that "no one has greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends" (Jn 15:13). I have no words to express my gratitude for the precious gift of a relic of the Coptic martyrs killed in Libya on 15 February 2015. These martyrs were baptized not only in water and the Spirit, but also in blood, with a blood that is a seed of unity for all followers of Christ. I am pleased to announce today that, with Your Holiness' consent, these twenty-one martyrs will be included in the Roman Martyrology as a sign of the spiritual communion uniting our two Churches.
May the prayers of the Coptic martyrs, united with those of the Theotokos, continue to make our Churches grow in friendship, until the blessed day when we will be able to celebrate together at the same altar and commune with the same Body and Blood of the Saviour, “that the world may believe” (Jn 17:21)!
Thank you.
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Newly-consecrated Bishop François Beyrouti, the head of the Melkite Greek Eparchy of Newton, USA, talks with Vatican News about the Eastern Catholic Churches and about his own particular Church in the United States.
vaticannews.va - By Christopher Wells
With more than 1.5 million faithful, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church is one of the largest Eastern Churches in union with Rome. The Melkite Church traces its roots back to the ancient See of Antioch, where the followers of Christ were first called Christians.
“We’re proud to say that we sent Peter over to Rome,” says Bishop François Beyrouti, the newly-consecrated bishop of the Melkite Eparchy of Newton, USA, referring to the tradition that St Peter was Bishop of Antioch for seven years before going to the Eternal City.
Bishop Beyrouti was speaking in an interview with Vatican News during his own visit to Rome earlier this month, where he met with Pope Francis.
He described the shared Petrine foundation as “a great witness to the ties between the city of Rome and the city of Antioch, but also a celebration of our Apostolic Faith that, although started in Jerusalem, Antioch, and Rome [is] now spread throughout the entire world, which is kind of our mission in the United States,” serving the “new world.”
Click here to read full story with photos at vaticannews.va.
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From the Protection of the Mother of God Greek Catholic church, in Budapest, Hungary, Pope Francis’ visit to the Greek Catholic community:
YouTube Video LInk: https://youtu.be/3XLD5ckekCM
- Pope sets Eastern Churches Bishops' age limit for voting at Synods
- Erection of the Apostolic Administration for Faithful of Byzantine Rite in Belarus and Appointment of Apostolic Administrator
- UGCC declares a solemn day of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving
- Appointment of secretary of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches