Eastern Catholic Bishops Plan Encounter 2012
St Louis, MO - March 17, 2011
An intensive two-day meeting was held this week within sight of the city’s
iconic Gateway Arch and the forward-looking Museum of Westward Expansion.
For it was in this setting that delegates from Eastern
Catholic Churches from across the country gathered to formulate plans
for a trend-setting event scheduled for next year.
Groundwork for the gathering was begun more than a year
ago when members of ECED (Eastern Catholic Eparchial Directors of Religious
Education) formed a sub-committee to explore ways to convene catechists
and other interested persons for a program designed to share experience
and expertise in communicating the Gospel message to the perhaps million-plus
members of the country’s varied Eastern Catholic Traditions.
Twice before similar “Encounters” were convened. The first,
organized by Rome, was held in 1999 in Boston, open primarily to bishops
of the multi-ritual Eastern Catholic Churches with parishes in the United
States of traditions that include the Armenian, Byzantine and Syriac liturgical
families.
In 2006 in Chicago, the “Encounter” was broadened to present
a program that was open to a larger number of participants—primarily
those in eparchial (diocesan) catechetical offices. Here, too was commemorated
the 35th year of collaboration between Eastern Catholic Churches whose
combined resources produced texts, audio and visual products and other
items to present authentic Eastern theology. The resultant endeavor supplies
educational material distributed by God With Us Publication, the product
of the work of ECED, the publishing arm of ECA (the Eastern Catholic Bishops
of America.)
ECA forms Region XV of the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops.
For the third “Encounter” on the theme “Together in Christ,” the
thrust is to involve as many of those involved in education and evangelization
programs of these Eastern Catholic Churches. Since the material produced
by God With Us provides a PreK-8 series of texts and teacher manuals,
as well as a wide assortment of material for high school, college or other
adult enrichment programs, this planned “Encounter” is an outgrowth
of the Churches’ mission to “teach all nations.”
This week’s delegates were chosen by the hierarchs of the Eastern
Catholic Churches to come together for the purpose of providing a program
that assists that mission.
The sub-committee of ECED had met four times already: in
Orlando, Florida, Sybertsville, Pennsylvania, Detroit, Michigan and Houston,
Texas, to form a framework upon which the delegates can build. The sub-committee
includes Bishop NICHOLAS (Samra) of the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church,
(Newton, Massachusetts); Very Rev, Gregory Noga and Dr Barbara Y. Lutz
of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic (New Jersey); and Fr John
Lucas of the Byzantine Ukrainian Eparchy of St Nicholas in Chicago, each
of whom explained aspects of the program.
Upon the conclusion of the meeting in St Louis, the delegates
were assigned tasks to provide a working plan with details to be made
available as soon as there is specific information to report.
The original concept is to hold a week-end (Friday-Sunday) “Encounter” in
three geographic areas of the country with sizeable populations of various
Eastern Catholics: for the East Coast, the New York/New Jersey area; in
Cleveland (to serve Detroit, Chicago and Pittsburgh areas); and a West
Coast site in Southern California. The planning process has a target date
of late summer, early fall, 2012 for the three “Encounter” sites.
Along with the co-chairs, delegates able to be present
were: Sr Jean Marie Cihota, OSBM, Byzantine Ruthenian Eparchy in Phoenix;
Rev Edward Cimbala, Byzantine Ruthenian Eparchy of Passaic; Very Rev George
David, Byzantine Romanian Eparchy of St George, Canton OH; Sr Marion Dobos,
OSB, Byzantine Ruthenian Archeparchy of Pittsburgh; Mitred Archpriest
John Kachuba, Byzantine Ruthenian Eparchy of Parma, OH; Mr Nazar Sloboda,
Byzantine Ukrainian Eparchy of St Nicholas, Chicago; Fr Paul Voida, Byzantine
Romanian Eparchy, Canton; Msgr Peter Waslo, Byzantine Ukrainian Archeparchy
of Philadelphia; and Rt Rev Archimandrite Nicholas Zachariadis, Byzantine
Romanian Eparchy in Canton. Unable to attend were Rev Frank Kalabat, Chaldean
Diocese of St Thomas, Bloomfield, MI and Sr Ann Laszok, OSBM, Byzantine
Ukrainian Eparchy of St Josaphat, Parma, OH.
