Bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) are meeting at the Vatican for a synod aimed at strengthening the Byzantine Rite church's ties with Rome, the Religion News website reports today (September 5, 2019).
Ukrainian Greek Catholics -- who make up the world's largest Eastern Catholic Church -- are in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, and more distinct from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which recently secured its independence from Russia.
In addressing the UGCC's 47 bishops yesterday, the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, stressed the importance of maintaining the "clear" identity of the Ukrainian Catholic community and expressed sympathy for Ukraine as a whole.
When the Ukrainian Orthodox Church officially declared independence from the Russian church last January, its decision was met favorably by the Catholic community in Ukraine, which still carries the scars of Soviet persecution and genocide.
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