Greek Catholic Head Celebrates Easter in Rome
Rome - Lviv - Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), celebrated a festive Divine Liturgy in front of the Church of St. Sophia in Rome on 1 May 2005, Easter on the Julian calendar. About 2000 UGCC faithful attended. Mr. Khoruzhyi, Ukraine's ambassador to the Holy See, and Mr. Ponomariov, Ukraine 's representative in the Republic of Italy , were also present. The cardinal was also granted a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI on 2 May.
Cardinal Husar started his sermon at the festive Liturgy by thanking all the participants. He asked those present to pass his greetings to all those who could not attend.
"Jesus Christ came to us human beings to do good for people, and one might have thought," the cardinal continued, "that his life from beginning to end was one big triumph, a glory walk. But it did not happen that way. After his passion came the glorious resurrection, which we can, to an extent, interpret as a reward for carrying out the will of the heavenly Father. Our life is not a road paved with roses, either. It is not easy. Today's feast teaches us to accept everything that comes our way, for it does not happen accidentally, but by the will of the heavenly Father. He sends all good and all suffering for our benefit. If we can understand that, then we can with full justification and certainty expect resurrection in the Lord," said the cardinal.
In addition to the audience with Pope Benedict XVI, the cardinal met with a number of other high-ranking representatives of the Holy See on 2 May.
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