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IES gathered Orthodox and Catholic liturgists in Lviv

2021-07-02 10:00

At the initiative of the Institute of Ecumenical Studies of UCU in cooperation with the Patriarchal Liturgical Commission of the UGCC and the Liturgical Center Peredannya (Holy Tradition) with the support of the Diocese of Limburg on June 24-25 a seminar entitled “Worship that unites, not divides” took place in the conference hall of the UCU Faculty of Philosophy and Theology. The event brought together leading Ukrainian liturgists, theologians, scholars and those interested in the issue. The two-day seminar was attended by His Excellency Hlib (Lonchyna), Bishop of the Diocese of St. Volodymyr the Great in Paris for Ukrainian Greek-Catholics in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland; Most Reverend Job (Getcha), Archbishop of Telmessos, the Permanent Representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the World Council of Churches and the Dean of the Institute for Orthodox Theology Higher Studies at Chambésy, Switzerland; Fr. Andriy Onuferko, a UGCC priest in Canada, an employee of the UGCC Patriarchal Curia and other participants. A congratulatory speech was sent to all present by Fr. Iwan Dacko, IES President.

The following speakers spoke on how to preserve, comprehend, pass on to the next generations and creatively develop the rich spiritual and liturgical heritage of the Kyivan Christianity: Taras Dmytryk, Petro Sabat, Yuriy Mysiv, Fr. Petro Galadza, Fr. Andriy Dudchenko and Fr. Vasyl Rudeyko. The following speakers shared their experience of translating liturgical texts and working on the development of liturgical music and singing: Fr. Bohdan Ogulchansky, Fr. Oleh Kozhushny, Taras Tymo, Fr. Luka Mykhaylovych, Archdeacon Oleksandr Tarasenko, Maksym Tymo, Andriy Shkrabyuk.

The priests, members of the UGCC Patriarchal Liturgical Commission, Fr. Vasyl Klochak (Volyn Orthodox Theological Academy), translators and the seminar participants jointed the discussion.

The main theses presented at the seminar:

  • The Kyivan liturgical heritage already unites the Ukrainian Churches
  • The liturgical crisis cannot be overcome alone, cooperation between denominations is needed
  • The lack of the high-quality translations of liturgical texts into Ukrainian (however, there are some individual translation initiatives)
  • The need to create a good Church Slavonic-Ukrainian dictionary (preferably common to all denominations)
  • The development of Ukrainian theological terminology is necessary
  • The need to rethink liturgical practices that do not express in-depth liturgical church experience
  • Liturgical reform is not something bad, but a vital necessity of creative development of the heritage that was given to us
  • Hopes for future cooperation between the liturgical commissions of the UGCC and the OCU
  • There are few interconfessional liturgical workshops-sharing of experience (love for liturgical singing already unites many people)

The seminar ended with the presentation of a new liturgical and musical edition “Paraklesis with the Akathist to the Holy Mother of God” in the Church of the Holy Eucharist, Lviv.

Video of the seminar in Ukrainian Part 1 Part 2

Photo of the seminar