The Writing of the Catechism is a Great Task

Story from The Ukrainian Catholic Chucrch in Australia, New Zealand and Oceania

Writing the catechism of the UGCC is a great task from the perspective of the Universal Church . We must show the faithful of our Church who they are in the borders of the whole Church, according to the tradition in which they live. Our work will also be useful for the Universal Church, for if some one wants to see what contribution the Eastern lung makes in cognition of God's truth he or she can make use of the catechism you are working at now,” His Beatitude Lubomyr, Major Archbishop of Kyiv and Halych, told the participants of the conference dedicated to writing the Catechism of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Then, when answering the questions of the participants, His Beatitude was asked about the possibility of using sayings and teachings of the Orthodox Church in the text of the Catechism. Answering that, His Beatitude stated: “We should be open enough. Sanctity is a gift of God, so it cannot be limited denominationally. Still, on the other hand, we should not interpret sanctity as the position of some individuals. We should consider not so much our legal affiliation, but our Christian feelings. It should be visible that a true friend of this or that person was God.”

The conference dedicated to writing the catechism “Christ is Our Pascha” was held on June 20-23, 2006 at Holy Spirit Theological Seminary in Lviv. His Excellency Petro Stasiuk, Eparch for Ukrainian Catholics in Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania, head of the Synodal Catechetical Commission; Msgr. Rafaello Martinelli, representative of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith; and UGCC theologians and catechists from the USA, Argentina, Brazil, Slovakia, and Ukraine.

As we have reported, the work on the Catechism lasts for four years. The aim of the Catechism is to help deepen the faith given to us in the sacrament of baptism. It is intended for UGCC faithful in Ukraine and the diaspora. The content should express Christian faith as it was lived during the thousand years of the Kyivan tradition. The process of writing the Catechism “Christ is our Easter” has already passed several stages of work, prayer and discussions, among them working out the concept, blessing and approval of the Synod of Bishops, and writing the texts according to the plan. The aim of the conference was introducing the whole text of the UGCC Catechism. The participants of the conference analyzed the text and evaluated it, made their comments, and suggested improvements.

Fr. Ihor Yatsiv,
Press secretary of the Head of the UGCC v