Catechism of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, "Christ
Our Pascha" Released
Ukraine on June 24, 2011
Bishop Peter Stasiuk, the head of the Patriarchal Catechetical Commission,
stated "Our Catechism is called Christ Our Pascha. The
central idea is that the source of our Christian life of
Faith is the Risen Christ. In
the liturgical language of our Church we participate in
the Passover of Christ hence in the new life in Christ.
This new life grows to maturity
in spiritual development and moral effort. Therefore, there
are two fundamental resources for understanding this catechism.
They are the Nicene Creed
and the liturgical anaphora of St Basil the Great."
There are three parts to this catechism: the faith of the Church, the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church (the Prayer of the Church) and the spiritual and moral dimensions of the Church (the Life of the Church). Saint Basilęs Anaphora gives a rather full account of the history of salvation culminating in the resurrection and in this way the main truths of the Christian faith are elaborated. These truths along with the Creed constitute the first part of the Catechism.
The second part of the Catechism, takes for its focus the words from the anaphora of the institution of the Eucharist during the Last Supper. This liturgical interpretation of the Eucharist is the centre from which the liturgical cycles of the Church emerge (daily, weekly and yearly) and the sacraments, the birth of the spiritual life and the blossoming of devotion.
The spiritual and moral dimensions of private, family and the socio-political life of persons is also remembered in the anaphora and so this forms the content of the third part of the Catechism, which concerns the sanctification of people and the transformation of their lives.
The publication of this catechism is timely. The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has just elected as its new leader Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk who proclaimed in his inaugural press conference, –The No. 1 priority for . . . the church is evangelization, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in todayęs world.î Pope Benedict XVI has selected as the topic for the XIII Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church, The New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Catholic Faith. The lineamenta (discussion document) makes special mention of the Eastern Catholic Churches in the context of discernment of new ways of being Church:
In this work of discernment, the Eastern Catholic Churches can be of
great assistance as well as Christian communities which, in their recent
past, have lived or are still living an experience of hiding, persecution
or marginalization, or ethnic, ideological or religious intolerance.
Their testimony of faith, perseverance, fortitude, unwavering hope and
the intuition of some of their pastoral practices are gifts to be shared
with Christian communities which, looking to a glorious past, are now
experiencing a difficult and trying moment. For Churches little accustomed
to living their faith in situations where they are a minority, to listen
to the experiences of the Christian communities mentioned above is surely
a gift which instils the indispensible trust required in the efforts
for the new evangelization." ....(Lviv, Ukraine June 24, 2011)
Several other Churches were at the presentation and expressed interest in using the Catechism for their people.
Available for purchase in Ukrainian - a hard cover version in Ukrainian is $30. Soft cover will be available soon for $25 (English version not available as yet)
News
http://www.catholicukes.org.au/tiki-view_articles.php
http://risu.org.ua/en/index/all_news/catholics/ugcc/43136/
