News
Byzcath.org News provides news focusing on the Christian East from varous sources and offers links to other sites dedicated to providing the news about the Church.
Churches and organizations that provide news about the Eastern Churches are invited to submit their news stories to us for publication here (use the contact page for submission)..
Materials from the Vatican Information Service, Zenit, CWNews.com and other sources are published here with permission of their owners but may not be republished further without the permission of their original publishers. Please visit these sites to obtain additional general news about the Church. In addition to these sources EWTN News also provides a good general news summary.
Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
- Details
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.
- Details
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
- Details
vaticannews.va - In an Apostolic Letter issued in the form of a 'Motu proprio', Pope Francis amends the Canon Law of the Oriental Churches by providing that the bishops emeritus who have reached the age of 80 will no longer be able to vote in the Episcopal Synods of which they are members, though the rule does not apply to those who are already in office.
With a new Motu Proprio published on Monday, Pope Francis has modified the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches to exclude bishops who are members of the their respective Synods of Bishops from voting decisions after they have reached the age of eighty.
The Pope’s decision meets a longstanding request made by "some Patriarchs, Major Archbishops and Bishops", as reads the title of the Motu proprio “Iam pridem” ("For some time now", in Latin)
The Apostolic Letter, explains that the change was needed because of "the difficulties that have emerged in the Synods of Bishops of the Patriarchal Churches and Major Archiepiscopal Churches, due to the number of Bishops Emeritus who participate in them with an active voice, especially in the election of the Bishops and of the Heads and Fathers of their respective sui iuris (autonomous, ed.) Churches”.
These difficulties have prompted the heads of these Churches to ask for a new regulation which Pope Francis ordered in the Motu Proprio he signed on Sunday, April 16, which modifies Canons 66, § 1, 102, 149 and 183 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.
The text specifies that the new legislation, which will come into force in a month's time, "will not apply" to the "Patriarchs, Major Archbishops, Eparchial Bishops and Exarchs” currently in office "despite them having reached the age of eighty".
17 April 2023, 17:15 By Vatican news staff writer
- Details
vatican.va - The Holy Father has erected the apostolic administration for faithful of Byzantine rite in Belarus, appointing the Reverend Archimandrite Jan Sergiusz Gajek, M.I.C., until now apostolic visitator for the same faithful, as apostolic administrator without episcopal rank of the same ecclesiastical circumscription.
Curriculum vitae
The Reverend Archimandrite Jan Sergiusz Gajek, M.I.C., was born on 8 February 1949 in Łyszkowice, Poland. In 1963 he received his middle school diploma in Łyszkowice, and four years later, he graduated from high school in Łowicz. He subsequently entered the Congregation of Marian Clerics, assuming the monastic name Sergiusz.
From 1967 to 1974 he studied at the Faculty of Theology of the Catholic University of Lublin and later at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, where he was awarded a doctorate in 1983. On 15 August 1973 he gave his religious vows in the Congregation of Marian Clerics, and was ordained a priest on 23 June the following year.
After ordination he provided pastoral service in the Latin parish of Głuchołazy, and collaborated with the Byzantine parish of Kostomłoty. From 1983 to 1999 he taught theology of the Eastern Churches at the Ecumenical Institute of the Catholic University of Lublin. In 1993, Pope John Paul II appointed him apostolic visitator for the Greek-Catholic faithful in Belarus. In 1996, he was elevated to the rank of Archimandrite.
Historical background on the Catholic communities of the Byzantine rite in Belarus
The Catholic community of the Byzantine rite in Belarus is heir to the union of Brest, dating back to 1596.
In 1798, the eparchy of Minsk (of the Ruthenians) was erected, which, in 1839, was impeded, but was never suppressed. The Pontifical Yearbook mentioned it until 1924. In 1939 the Belarusian Exarchate was erected by Metropolitan Andriy Sheptysky, archbishop of Lviv, who was confirmed as apostolic administrator by Pope Pius XII in 1941. This office remained vacant in 1943. In 1988, the faithful began to reorganize, continuing with the civil registration of parishes. Since 1993 they have been entrusted to the pastoral care of the Most Reverend Archimandrite Sergiusz Gajek, M.IC., as apostolic visitator ad nutum Sanctae Sedis.
There are currently about 5,000 faithful, organized in 16 parishes and assisted by 16 priests and 3 deacons. There are 4 seminarians.
30.03.2023
- Details
ugcc.ua - February 24, 2023, there will be a day of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving in all eparchies and exarchates of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church throughout the world. His Beatitude Sviatoslav, Father and Head of the UGCC, announced this initiative on behalf of the Synod of Bishops.
February 24 will mark a year since the beginning of the full-scale Russian war against Ukraine. According to the decision of the bishops of the UGCC, the entire Church will spend this day in fasting, prayer, and works of mercy.
12-hour prayer marathon beginning February 24 at 12:00 pm Kyiv time on zhyve.tv will unite in prayer the faithful on all continents. There are no specific fasting guidelines — the faithful choose their own restrictions and self-discipline.
“Let this day be an opportunity for us to do good for someone: to comfort the afflicted, to clothe the naked, to warm those who are freezing, to feed the hungry,” explained His Beatitude Sviatoslav the importance of not merely prayer and fasting but also works of mercy.
Let us offer our spiritual efforts and our prayers for the victory of the Ukrainian people in this unequal battle, as well as for our army,” noted the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.
Link to full story: https://ugcc.ua/en/data/the-ugcc-declared-a-solemn-day-of-fasting-prayer-and-almsgiving-220/
- Details
vatican.va - The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Fr. Michel Jalakh, O.A.M., until now rector of the Antonine University in Baabda, Lebanon, as secretary of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.
Curriculum vitae
The Reverend Fr. Michel Jalakh was born on 27 August 1966 in Baouchrieh, Lebanon. On 15 August he gave his first religious vows in the Antonin Maronite Order, and on 21 April 1991 he was ordained a priest. From December 2000 to July 2008 he served as an officer in the former Congregation for the Eastern Churches. He was awarded a doctorate in ecclesiology from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, Italy, in 2008. From 2013 to 2018 he was secretary general of the Middle East Council of Churches and a member of the Commission for Ecumenical Relations o the Catholic Patriarchs’ and Bishops’ Assembly in Lebanon. He is a teacher at the Antonine University in Baabda, of which he became rector in 2017.