Synod of the "independent" UGCC holds its sessions in the Vatican

The Pope and UGCC Synod members. Photo: vaticannews.va

On July 2, 2025, Pope Leo met with the bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (including some cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church), according to vaticannews.va.

As the pontiff told the UGCC bishops, their synodal session in Rome is taking place as part of the Jubilee Year dedicated to the virtue of hope.

At the same time, the Pope admitted that speaking about hope in the Ukrainian context today is not easy: “It is not easy to find words of comfort for families who have lost their loved ones in this senseless war.”

Nevertheless, he emphasized, it is precisely in these difficult circumstances that he receives from the Ukrainian people “testimonies of faith and hope” that “bear witness to God’s power.”

Pope Leo called on the UGCC hierarchs to preserve unity in faith and hope, noting: “Our communion is a great mystery: it is real communion also with brothers and sisters whose earthly lives have been taken but who are received by God. In Him everything lives and everything finds its fullness of meaning.”

The meeting with the Pope concluded, at his initiative, with the Lord’s Prayer (“Our Father”) recited in Ukrainian.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the UGCC is a patriarchate that is not yet recognized, and that the Vatican simply “needs to get used to the Uniate patriarchate.”

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