Pics, links, and such available here: Byzantine, TX

(RISU) - “Usually our meetings have a double character: we, if there is the possibility, gather together in miraculous places, in order to hold a joint pilgrimage and to have the possibility of joint prayer; the other purpose is the desire to get better acquainted with the tradition of the Eastern Church. For this purpose in recent years we have been considering the holy sacraments. This year we will concentrate our attention on the sacrament of the priesthood,” Patriarch Lubomyr (Husar) told the Department of Information, when describing the meeting of the Greek Catholic bishops of Europe, which took place in Uzhhorod from May 12 to 14.

The other task of such meetings, according to the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), is the creation of the opportunity to be together, “in fact we [bishops of the UGCC, – aut.] in Ukraine have our synod, and are celebrating in our land, but some bishops are alone by themselves… We reflect together on what their task is, how they should share Eastern spirituality with bishops of the Roman Catholic Church.”

A pilgrimage of representatives of the Greek Catholic Churches of Western Europe to Italy took place on June 6-11, 2005, with the motto: “Christian roots of Europe. A pilgrimage to the sources.” During the six-day pilgrimage the participants visited Rome, Grotta-Ferrata, Monte-Casino, Amalfi and Bari. The main place of the meeting was the pilgrim house of the Salesianum near Rome. “Precisely during this pilgrimage was born the idea to annually conduct similar meetings of the Greek Catholic bishops of Europe, to discuss themes of joint personal interest,” Patriarch Lubomyr said. Accordingly, the latest meeting in Uzhhorod was the sixth.

As the web page of the Mukachevo Greek Catholic Eparchy, www.mgce.uz.ua, reports, bishops from 14 countries of Europe arrived for the meeting. During their stay in the Transcarpathia Region the bishops together with priests celebrated three Divine Liturgies.

In addition, on May 14, the blessing of a monument to the Exit from the Underground of the Mukachevo Eparchy took place near the Chapel of the Crucifixion on Calvary in the city of Uzhhorod.

It is interesting that the Eparchy of Mukacheve apparently has at least three cathedrals:

• the Cathedral of the Ascension in the city of Khust;
• the Cathedral of the Dormition in the city of Mukacheve;
• the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Cross in the city of Uzhhorod

Might it be possible to create a metropolitan Church sui iuris consisting of the current eparchy of Mukacheve and two new eparchies of Uzhhorod and Khust, with Mukacheve as the metropolitan see? And might this then be considered the mother Church of all the Ruthenian Churches?

I spotted the Abbot-Exarch of Grottaferrata Padre Emiliano in the photos. A good man who is trying to put some life back into his community.

Here are some pictures of the various services in Zarkarpatska Oblast of Ukraine (can you pick out the Cardinal Patriarch ?):


European Greek Catholic Bishops meeting in Uzhorod - Pictures # 1

Services in the Cathedral in Khust (Ukraine)

Services in the Cathedral in Mukachiv (Ukraine)

Services in the Cathedral in Uzhorod (Ukraine)

I.F.

Very nice pictures

By the way, it is Archbishop Joseph Soueif, the Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus, I think currently the only non-Byzantine Catholic bishop in Europe.

http://www.mgce.uz.ua/albums/160/IMG_14.jpg

http://www.mgce.uz.ua/albums/158/IMG_0015.jpg

This is Bishop Christo Proykov, the Apostolic Exarch of Sofia

http://www.mgce.uz.ua/albums/156/IMG_0017.jpg

http://www.mgce.uz.ua/albums/158/IMG_0023.jpg

Too late for editing my original post... I meant "currently the only non-Byzantine Eastern Catholic bishop in Europe."

Confiscate all their razors.

Is there a rational explanation why Orthodox bishops (and often priests) grow beards, but Eastern Catholic are rather reluctant to do so?

Re: reluctance to grow beards.

I once asked Bishop Imre (Timko) why he did not grow a beard. His answer was most interesting: "I'm afraid of Rome!" At first I though His Grace was joking, but he had done his graduate work at the Oriental Institute in Rome and described the Jesuits appearing like something straight from Zagorsk but warning the students: "No, no, this is not for you!" Unfortunately, this is quite believable as well as disgusting.

Fr. Serge

I have a couple of questions. Why is Cardinal Husar wearing a business suit?

http://www.mgce.uz.ua/albums/157/IMG_0005.jpg

What are these deacons doing?

http://www.mgce.uz.ua/albums/160/IMG_23.jpg

OK, OK....What is this bishop doing?

http://www.mgce.uz.ua/albums/156/IMG_0020.jpg

Also, this mitre

http://www.mgce.uz.ua/albums/156/IMG_0016.jpg

I have to wonder about that.

There is also Bishop Grégoire (Krikor) Ghabroyan, Hierarch of the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Sainte-Croix de Paris.

ok - I have to ask ... did anyone notice that this thread was a year and a half old when it was suddenly revived? (not that it matters, just so viewers realize that this is not current 'news')

and, one comment/caution, ...

when photos are posted using the image function ([img:]), as was done here, they draw on the bandwidth of the site from which they originate - effectively 'stealing' that site's bandwidth. It's considered bad form and is the reason that some such pics disappear w/in a day or so, to be replaced by red 'x's in a small box (because most photo-based sites, most commercial sites, and other sites that are on top of things, use software that breaks the connection once it is discovered).

Additionally, posting images versus links raises copyright issues

For these reasons, I have replaced the images w/ links.

Sorry, I realize that words, when accompanied by an image available for immediate, simultaneous, viewing trump even Confucious' famous saying regarding the value of pictures over words ... but, we need to be a good internet neighbor (and to protect ourselves legally).

Many years,

Neil

Thank you, Irish Melkite for the correction and kind explanation.

Ray