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Last Updated: 15 December 2022

By Anna Farrow, Catholic Register Special

December 8, 2022

As a woman of faith, Canadian journalist Laura Ieraci has a pastoral heart — one that can lead her to distant pastures.

Ieraci spent two weeks this past summer filming on location in Hungary for a forthcoming documentary focused on the faith of a gypsy community and the life of a heroic priest. But the gestation of the project started seven years ago as she and her husband, Rev. Andrew Summerson, had a couple of weeks to kill between the end of their studies in Rome and the next stage of their lives in North America. 

When her husband asked her how she wanted to fill the time, Ieraci answered, “I want to go and learn about Mother Church.” Two years earlier, this cradle Roman Catholic from Montreal had married into the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church. She wanted, she said, “to see the geography, to eat the food and to hear its chant.” 

By the end of their 2015 trip to eastern Hungary and western Ukraine, Ieraci was already making plans. She told her husband, a Byzantine Catholic priest of the Eparchy of Parma, “One day it would be great if we could organize a pilgrimage for the people in North America.” 

In 2018, with the help of her husband and their bishop, she did just that. She wanted to provide an opportunity for Greek Catholics in North America to learn about the history of their Church and to connect with the physical touchstones, the icons and buildings, of the faith. 

As a journalist, she has an instinct for capturing a story. Then editor for Horizons, the newspaper of the Eparchy of Parma, Ieraci organized things so the pilgrimage could have a small film crew attached. She and her team produced a documentary, From Mariapoch to Mariapoch: A Journey of Discovery, that aired on EWTN.

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Last Updated: 03 November 2022

vatican.va - The Holy Father Francis has granted his assent to the election by the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church of the Reverend Andriy Khimyak as auxiliary bishop of the archeparchy of Kyiv, assigning him the titular see of Cuicul.

Curriculum vitae

Msgr. Khimyak was born on 13 April 1981 in Lviv.

From 1998 to 2005 he received his priestly formation at the Major Seminary of Lviv and, from 2005 to 2008, he studied liturgy at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, obtaining a licentiate.

On 9 May 2012 he was ordained a deacon and, on the following 4 November, priest, for the archeparchy of Kyiv.

From 2009 to 2021 he was assistant to the secretary of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church. Since 2021 he has held the role of secretary of the same Synod.

Since 2011 he has also served as lecturer in the Kyiv Theological Seminary of the Three Holy Hierarchs.

Besides Ukrainian, he speaks Italian, Russian and English. - 2022-11-03

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Last Updated: 19 September 2022

vatican.va - The Holy Father has given his assent to the election by the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church of the Reverend Maksim Ryabukha, S.D.B., as auxiliary bishop of the archepiscopal exarchate of Donetsk, assigning him the titular see of Stefaniacum.

Curriculum vitae

The Reverend Maksim Ryabukha was born on 18 May 1980 in Lviv. In 1998 he entered the Society of Saint Francis de Sales, and after his initial formation he completed his studies in philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Salesian University. In addition, he also trained in human resources management at the Interregional Academy, besides obtaining a master’s degree in school administration from the Lviv Polytechnic and a master’s degree in social pedagogy from the National University of Transcarpathia.

He was ordained a priest on 4 August 2007.

He has held a number of offices, including director of the school of catechetics of the parish of Pokrov of the Holy Mother of God in Lviv, head of the Oratory of the Salesian Community in Vynnyky, director of the Community in Dnipro, administrator of the parish of Saint John Chrysostom in Kiev, head of university pastoral ministry of the archeparchy of Kiev, local collaborator at the apostolic nunciature in Ukraine, lecturer in pedagogy at the Greek-Catholic major seminary in Kiev, and vicar of the Superior of the Ukrainian vice-province of the Salesians. - 2022-09-19

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Last Updated: 02 December 2022

vatican.va - The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the eparchy of Newton of the Greek-Melkites, United States of America, presented by Bishop Nicholas James Samra.

The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend François Beyrouti, of the clergy of the same eparchy, until now parish priest of the Holy Cross Melkite Catholic Church in Placentia, California, as bishop of the eparchy of Newton of the Greek-Melkites.

Curriculum vitae

Msgr. François Beyrouti was born on 3 July 1971 in Hadath-Beirut, Lebanon. After emigrating with his family to Canada, in Vancouver, British Columbia, he attended the Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic High School. From 1989 to 1993 he studied in the Christ the King seminary in Mission, B.C. He was awarded a degree and doctorate in biblical theology from Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario.

He was ordained a priest on 4 October 1998 for the eparchy of Saint-Sauveur de Montréal of the Greek-Melkites. He subsequently served as deputy parish priest of the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Ottawa, member of the College of Consultors and head of youth pastoral care.

In December 2011 he was incardinated in the eparchy of Newton of the Greek-Melkites, where he was elected member of the Presbyteral Council and appointed as parish priest of the Holy Cross Melkite Catholic Church in Placentia, California.

Besides English, he knows French, German and Arabic.

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Last Updated: 15 December 2022

vatican.va - The Holy Father has appointed as Apostolic Visitor for the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic faithful residing in Ireland and Northern Ireland H.E.R. Kenneth Anthony Adam Nowakowski, Bishop of the Holy Family of London Eparchy of Byzantine Ukrainians. [01052-EN.01] [B0516-XX.01]

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Last Updated: 11 July 2022

vatican.va - The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the Eparchy Saint Thomas the Apostle of Chicago of the Syro-Malabars (U.S.A.) presented by H.E.R. Jacob Angadiath.

The Holy Father has appointed Bishop of the Eparchy Saint Thomas the Apostle of Chicago of the Syro-Malabars (U.S.A.) H.E.R. Joy Alappat, currently Auxiliary Bishop of the same circumscription, transferring him from the titular See of Bencenna.

Curriculum vitae

S.E.R. Joy Alapat was born on 27 September 1956 in the Parappukara area, in the Eparchy of Irinjalakuda (Kerala). After his priestly training at St. Thomas Apostolic Seminary, Vadavathoor, he was ordained a priest on December 31, 1981. He earned his Masters in Theology from St. Joseph's Pontifical Institute, Aluva, and Adheva University, Wattair.

He has carried out the following ministerial positions: Pastoral in Chalakudy, Mala, and in the Eparchial Cathedral; Chaplain of the Syro-Malabar community in Chennai. Before moving to the United States in 1993 and while he was chaplain at Georgetown University, he completed Clinical Pastoral Education.

He has held other pastoral assignments in New Milford (Connecticut), Newark and Garfield (New Jersey). From 2011 until his episcopal appointment he was Vicar of the Eparchial Cathedral in Bellwood (Illinois).

Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Eparchy Saint Thomas the Apostle of Chicago of the Syro-Malabars on 24 July 2014, he received episcopal consecration on 27 September of the same year.

In addition to Malayalam and English, he knows Indian and Tamil.

[01049-EN.01]

[B0514-XX.01]