The appointment of an auxiliary Bishop of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Archeparchy of Lviv was announced in Rome and Ukraine today, August 3, 2010.

The Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church has elected Hieromonk Venedykt (in the world Valeriy Aleksiychuk) of the Dormition Monastery in Univ as auxiliary Bishop of the Archeparchy of Lviv, Ukraine. Pope Benedict XVI has given his blessing to the election and has given the Bishop-elect the title of Bishop of Germaniciana.

Bishop-elect Venedykt, 42, has worked in Belarus, Canada and Ukraine, and holds a doctorate from the Catholic University of Lublin, Poland. He will assist Archbishop Ihor (Voznyak), who turns 58 today, in the governance of the 750,000-member Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Archeparchy of Lviv, western Ukraine.

Ad multos annos!

Sources:

Holy See Press Office

Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church

Annuario Pontificio 2010

Eis polla eti, Despota!

May the Lord grant many years to Bishop-elect Venedykt.

Axios, Axios, Axios!

Father Hegumen Benedict is an EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT monk and would be a GREAT Bishop for our Church!

Very prayerful and spiritual and a the forefront of the renewal of our Church!

There IS a God!

Slava Bohu!

As noted in a recent prior thread of a similar nature, this thread reports news that one anticipates will result in proclaiming the worthiness of the hierarch-elect and wishing him many years in the Lord's service.

Posts on tangential issues arising from such announcements belong elsewhere. My patience in dealing with such by moving them is at an end - I won't bother - they will be (and have been) deleted.

Many years,

Neil

Dear Friends;

Here are pictures and video from the Episcopal consecration of His Grace Bishop Benedict, aux. bishop of the UGCC of Lviv. Enjoy!

Pictures:

http://www.ugcc.org.ua/1391.0.html

Video:

http://www.ugcc.org.ua/1397.0.html

Has Patriarch Lyubomir retained the title of Bishop of Lviv? If so, are there plans to spin off Lviv as a separate Metropolitan Province from Kyiv?

No. According to the Annuario Pontificio 2010, the Most Reverend Ihor (Vozniak) is currently the Archbishop of Lviv (not the Metropolitan of Lviv). Kyiv remains the only Greek-Catholic metropolitan see in Ukraine.

If Lviv became a separate metropolitan see, Kyiv would effectively be left without suffragans. So, until the UGCC is better established in the centre and the east of Ukraine, I think what you suggest is unlikely to happen.

Sounds right. As eastern and western Ukraine are fairly distinct regions, it would seem logical to have a country divided into two provinces, but to do so, additional dioceses would have to be erected to justify the division--though there are actually metropolitan sees that have no suffragans at all, these are the exception rather than the rule.

Patriarch Lyubomir ceased retaining the title of Bishop of Lviv in August 2005 after the see was transferred to Kyiv.

I think there is a need for a body that unites all the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic bishops of Ukraine. At the moment this body is the metropolitan synod of Kyiv. If there were two metropolitan sees, and hence two metropolitan synods, there would be no such single body, because the Synod of Bishops of the whole Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church obviously includes the bishops from Poland, Germany, France, Great Britain, Canada, the United States, Brazil, Argentina, and Australia as well.

Your post demonstrates the necessity of formally elevating the Church of Kyiv to patriarchal status, thereby recognizing de jure what already exists de facto, and providing for more efficacious pastoral oversight of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

Although the canonical reality of the current status of the UGC necessarily leads to consideration of "elevation" (which seems to assume some action by the Roman Pontiff), and although I have signed petitions to that effect some forty years ago (to no effect), I am uneasy about any process that seems to rest on the idea that a Patriarch of the East can or ought to be "created" rather than "recognized" by the Roman Pontiff. That said, I add my prayers to those of all who seek a more cohesive structure for the UGC in Ukraine so long as full unity with the UOC (in all its permutations) cannot be achieved.

Stuart,

in this case it would make no difference whether or not the UGCC were recognized as a patriarchal church. All the canons governing synods are the same for patriarchal and major archiepiscopal Churches, and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches only recognizes two levels of synods: 1) the Synod of Bishops of the patriarchal or major archiepiscopal Church, and 2) the metropolitan synod. There is no provision for a plenary synod of several metropolitan provinces within the same nation (e.g. Ukraine). Presumably, there has been no need for such a synod. However, should the need arise, I suppose the Synod of Bishops could enact particular legislation to provide for a plenary synod.

My intention was only to point out some of the reasons why I don't think there is going to be a second metropolitan province in Ukraine anytime soon, not to say that it couldn't be done. Where there's a will, there's a way.

LC:

Christ is in our midst!!

There's no reason that a patriarchal synod could not have several metropolitans. One only has to look at our Orthodox brethren to see that model in action in several jurisdictions. In that case, there is one synod--each metropolitan does not have his own synod. And I don't believe that these synods mentioned in canon law anticipate that they are "levels." You either have one or the other.

Bob