John Paul II welcomes Synod of Ukrainian Greek Catholic
Church
VATICAN CITY, FEB 3, 2003 (Vatican Information Service) -
Pope John Paul this morning welcomed members of the Permanent
Synod of the Greek Catholic Church, in particular their major
archbishop, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, and told them that their
meeting in Rome "is a happy occasion to reaffirm your
communion with the Successor of Peter."
He remarked that their Church, "reborn after the tragic
events of the last century, proceeds on the path of rebuilding
with the awareness of its great spiritual legacy, of the fecund
testimony of her martyrs and of the need to maintain at all
levels a demeanor of dialogue, collaboration and communion."
He encouraged them to pursue this path and he underscored
their recent meetings with bishops of the Latin rite which
allowed everyone "to consider .... the pastoral questions
that interest both communities. Such encounters are a practical
application of that effective and affective communion that
must guide the pastors of Christ's flock."
"Such communion," the Holy Father affirmed, "is
all the more necessary if we reflect on the challenges that
today's situation places before us: from the spiritual needs
of broad segments of the population to the serious dilemma
of emigration; from the pain of the least fortunate to problems
in families; from the need for ecumenical dialogue to the
desire for a greater integration in the European context."
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