The Resolutions of the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church
DECREE
Вих. ВА 24/202 ENG
To the glory of the Holy, Consubstantial, Life-creating and Undivided Trinity,
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
and for the good of the People of God entrusted to us. Amen
BY DIVINE GRACE
AND IN FULL COMMUNION
WITH THE ROMAN APOSTOLIC SEE
SVIATOSLAV,
Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halych
of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church
To the Most Reverend and God-loving Bishops,
the reverend clergy, venerable monks and nuns
and lay faithful of the particular Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church
I DECLARE AND PROMULGATE
The Resolutions
of the Synod of Bishops
of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church
Zarvanytsia, July 2–12, 2024 A. D.
1. To acknowledge the state of implementation of the decisions of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC in 2023.
2. To bless the continuation of the work of the Patriarchal Liturgical Commission of the UGCC on the updated text of the Great Arkhieratikon and the Hierarchical Trebnyk, involving in this work the most reverend bishops: Ihor Isichenko, Hlib Lonchyna, and Ivan Kulik.
3. To bless the continuation of the work of the Patriarchal Liturgical Commission of the UGCC on the updated text of Trebnyk.
4. Having reviewed a summary of the proposal to update the Molytvoslov:
A. To express gratitude to the Order of St. Basil the Great for preparation of the Molytvoslov and for diligence regarding the liturgical heritage of our Church.
B. To create a working group of representatives of the Order of Saint Basil the Great and the Patriarchal Liturgical Commission of the UGCC to prepare an updated edition of the Molytvoslov.
C. To bless the principle of adapting the Molytvoslov to the liturgical texts approved by the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC.
5. To give consent to the appointment of the Most Reverend Bishop Mykhailo Kwiatkowski as head of the Patriarchal Catechetical Commission of the UGCC.
6. To give consent to granting church-wide status to the Commission of the UGCC on Family and Laity Affairs.
7. To give consent to the appointment of the Most Reverend Bishop Arkady Trochanowski as head of the Patriarchal Commission of the UGCC for Family and Laity Affairs.
8. To give consent to granting church-wide status to the UGCC Commission for Youth Affairs.
9. To give consent to the appointment of the Most Reverend Bishop Bryan Bayda as head of the UGCC Patriarchal Commission for Youth Affairs.
10. To give consent to granting church-wide status to the Council for Evangelization under the Head of the UGCC.
11. To give consent to the appointment of the Most Reverend Bishop Yosaphat Moschych as head of the Patriarchal Commission of the UGCC for Evangelization.
12. To give consent to the creation of the 2025 Jubilee Committee.
13. To give consent to the appointment of the Most Reverend Bishop Yaroslav Pryriz as head of the 2025 Jubilee Committee.
14. To give consent to the appointment of Fr. Theodosiy Hren, OSBM., as vice-head of the 2025 Jubilee Committee.
15. To give consent to the appointment of the Most Reverend Bishop Bohdan Manyshyn as head of the Department of Military Chaplaincy of the Patriarchal Curia of the UGCC.
16. To take into account the report of the General Director of the Administration of Justice on the state of the judiciary in the UGCC.
17. To establish the Award of the Father and Head of the UGCC for Clergy: «The Order of the Blessed Priest-Martyr Omelyan Kovch.»
18. To approve, with additions and amendments, the Statute of the Father and Head of the UGCC for clergy, «The Order of the Blessed Priest-martyr Omelyan Kovch.»
19. To enter changes to the Statute of the General-Church Fund of Priestly Solidarity of the UGCC.
20. To add the title «Social ministry» to the structure of the Code of Canons of the UGCC.
21. To acknowledge the state of work on the Code of Canons of the UGCC.
22. To acknowledge the report on the activities of the Department of Social Ministry of the UGCC during the war.
23. To acknowledge the report on the activities of the International Charitable Fund «Caritas of Ukraine.»
24. To acknowledge the state of implementation of the «Healing the Wounds of War» program for clergy.
25. In implementing the evangelistic mission of the UGCC:
I. At the general church level:
A. To encourage the faithful of the UGCC:
1) to pass on the faith and bear witness to the Christian life in the family circle;
2) in accordance with Resolution 7, D, 3 of the 2015 Synod of Bishops and Resolution 6, C, 3 of the 2018 Synod of Bishops, to read the Word of God daily (e.g. the Gospel reading of the day);
3) to nurture the practice of common prayer in the family;
4), to have a common meal in the family circle on Sunday after the Divine Liturgy, and share the Word of God heard in the church.
B. To task the Patriarchal Commission for Evangelization:
1) with creating a «School of Evangelization» at monasteries, pilgrimage sites, church educational institutions and parishes, which would be consistent with the spiritual tradition of the UGCC, and would conduct activities under the guidance of the Eparchial Commission for Evangelization in accordance with the program of the Patriarchal Commission for Evangelization;
2) with completing work on the evangelization program «We want to see Jesus;»
3) with publishing scholarly materials on the topic of evangelization and the preparation of kerygmatic sermons;
4) with preparing a course on the proclamation of the kerygma for introduction into seminary education and ongoing priestly formation;
5) with preparing a course on kerygmatic proclamation of the Gospel for military chaplains (priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful).
C. To instruct the Patriarchal Catechetical Commission to update the Program of Lectio Divina of the Holy Scriptures with comments for daily use in families and parish Bible groups and communities.
D. To instruct the Patriarchal Liturgical Commission to continue preparing for the clergy the series of short explanatory texts of all divine services, church rites, and our traditions in an evangelistic way.
E. To task the Patriarchal Commission for Monastic Affairs with recommending to the general superiors of institutes of consecrated life that annual retreats for consecrated persons have a kerygmatic dimension.
II. At the metropolitan level, to ask the metropolitans, in cooperation with the Patriarchal Commission for Evangelization, to organize inter-eparchial formation courses for communities and schools engaged in evangelization on the territory of the metropolia.
III. At the eparchial level:
A. To ask eparchial bishops:
1) to establish a commission for evangelization in eparchies where this has not yet been done;
2) to introduce to ongoing priestly formation a special course on the proclamation of the kerygma according to the program of the Patriarchal Commission of the UGCC for Evangelization;
3) to ensure that the annual retreats for priests and their wives have a kerygmatic dimension;
4) to nurture healthy popular piety through prayer vigils, pilgrimages, church singing, explanation of the meaning of icons for a deeper understanding of our spirituality;
5) to regulate the canonical status of existing lay communities and schools involved in evangelization in the eparchy (deaneries, parishes) and oversee their formation.
B. To instruct the heads of eparchial Commissions for Evangelization to engage appropriately trained lay faithful in evangelization projects in the eparchy.
C. To task seminary rectors with introducing a section on kerygmatic preaching into the homiletics course, and with ensuring that the lecturer has personal experience of such preaching.
D. To task the clergy:
1) with using every opportunity for kerygmatic proclamation of the Gospel in the context of the celebration of the 2025 Jubilee Year;
2) with delivering daily in the church a short kerygmatic sermon based on the texts of the Gospel and the Epistle proclaimed at the Divine Liturgy, in accordance with Resolution 7, D, 1 of the Synod of Bishops of 2015;
3) with regularly conducting Lectio Divina of the Holy Scriptures in the parish community;
4) with offering a reading and brief commentary on a text of the Holy Scriptures at the beginning of all parish community meetings;
5) with regularly explaining worship services, church rites and traditions to the faithful in an evangelistic manner, based on materials developed by the Patriarchal Liturgical Commission, in accordance with resolution 7, F, 3 of the Synod of Bishops of 2012,
6) with evangelizing and proclaiming the Word of God during the celebration of holy mysteries (sacraments), paraliturgical services, blessings and stole services (treby), in accordance with Resolution 7, D, 1 of the Synod of Bishops of 2012
7) with encouraging existing and, if necessary, creating new parish communities to receive and accompany newly evangelized and newly converted persons for their growth in faith; with directing animators of these communities to the diocesan commission for evangelization for training;
8) with encouraging existing and creating new parish communities to pray for preachers of the Gospel and for the development of the evangelistic mission of our Church;
9) with conducting annual parish kerygmatic retreats and missions, enlisting the cooperation of persons who have such experience;
10) with evangelizing through works of mercy, providing help to those in need.
26. To acknowledge the report on the activities of the Andrew’s Pence Fund.
27. To acknowledge the report on the activity of the Missionary Fund of the UGCC.
28. To acknowledge the report on the activities of the church-wide Priestly Solidarity Fund.
29. To acknowledge the report on the activities of the UGCC Patriarchal Foundation «Wise Deed» («Mudra Sprava»).
30. To acknowledge the report on the development of military chaplaincy in Ukraine.
31. To acknowledge the report on the activities of the Pastoral Council of the Patriarchal Curia of the UGCC.
32. To acknowledge the summary reports of commissions and departments at the church-wide level for the past year.
33. To acknowledge the report on youth apostolate in the UGCC.
34. To acknowledge the report on cooperation with the papal New Martyrs — Witnesses of the Faith Commission.
35. To acknowledge the report on the activity and mission of the Ukrainian Catholic University.
36. To acknowledge the report on the beatification process of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky.
37. To acknowledge the report on the activities of «Transfiguration House.»
38. To acknowledge information on the care and dignified accompaniment of the bishop-emeritus.
39. To approve the Instruction on the Presence of Church Structures, Institutions, Clergy, Consecrated persons of the UGCC in Ukraine in the «Internet.»)
40. To adopt the base text of the Post-Synodal Pastoral Letter of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC of 2024 with amendments and corrections.
41. To hold the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC in July 2025.
42. To establish as the main theme of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC in 2025 — «Family ministry in conditions of war.»
43. To entrust responsibility for the preparation of the main topic to the Most Reverend Bishop Arkady Trochanowski and the Patriarchal Commission of the UGCC for Family and Laity Affairs.
44. To approve the Communiqué of the Synod of Bishops in 2024.
† SVIATOSLAV,
Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halych
of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church
† ANDRIJ KHYMIAK,
Secretary of the Synod of Bishops
of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church
Given in Kyiv,
at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ,
on the day of Saint Volodymyr, named Basil in Holy Baptism,
Grand Prince of Kyiv, Equal-to-the-Apostles,
and the holy martyrs Cyricus and Julitta,
On the 15th day of July in the 2024th year of our Lord