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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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vatican.va - The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Milan Lach, S.J., auxiliary of Bratislava for Catholics of Byzantine rite, as apostolic visitator for Slovakian Greek-Catholic faithful in Western Europe.
Curriculum vitae
Bishop Milan Lach, S.J., was born on 18 November 1973 in Kežmarok, in the archeparchy of Prešov of the Byzantines, Slovakia.
He attended the Greek-Catholic Theological Faculty of Prešov, and in 1995 entered the Jesuit novitiate in Trnava, subsequently completing his studies at the Theological Faculty of the University of Trnava.
He was ordained a priest on 1 July 2001 in Košice.
After ordination, he first served as an employee in the scientific area (2001-2003) and superior (2009-2011) of the Michal Lacko Centre for East-West Spirituality in Košice. He was awarded a doctorate in Oriental ecclesiastical sciences from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome (2009), and went on to serve as spiritual father at the Pontifical College Russicum (2009), spiritual assistant of the Federation of Scouts of Europe (2009), member of the editorial team of the theological journal Verba Theologica, and vice-dean of the Theological Faculty of the University of Trnava (since 2011).
On 19 April 2013, the Holy Father appointed him as auxiliary bishop of the archeparchy of Prešov of the Byzantines, assigning him the titular see of Ostracine.
From 2016 to 2017 he was visitator of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches for the Oriental Seminaries and Colleges of Rome.
On 24 June 2017 he was appointed apostolic administrator sede vacante of the eparchy of Parma of the Ruthenians, United States of America, becoming bishop of the same circumscription on 1 June 2018.
Since 23 January 2023 he has held the office of auxiliary bishop of the eparchy of Bratislava for Catholics of Byzantine rite.
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vatican.va - The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Artur Bubneyvch, of the clergy of Holy Protection of Mary Byzantine Catholic eparchy of Phoenix, United States of America, until now parish priest of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as bishop of the same eparchy.
Curriculum vitae
Msgr. Artur Bubneyvch was born on 22 June 1975 in Perechin, Zakarpattia, in Ukraine, and entered the Greek-Catholic seminary of the eparchy of Mukachavo in Uzhgorod. From 1996 to 2001 he studied theology at the International Theological Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Gaming, Austria. From 2007 he collaborated with Bishop Milan Šašik, engaged in the formation of young people and teaching the English language.
He transferred to the United States, in the Byzantine eparchy of Holy Protection of Mary of Phoenix, and was ordained a deacon on 9 March 2014. He received priestly ordination the following 14 September. He was appointed parish priest of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on 1 December 2014. He is a member of the Eparchial Vocation Board and the board of Intereparchial Youth Adult Commission.
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Washington, DC — The year 2024 is a momentous one for the Byzantine-Ruthenian Catholic Church in the United States, as it celebrates two significant milestones.
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Uniontown, PA - The annual Pilgrimage in honor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a special ministry of the Sisters of St. Basil. It has been held every Labor Day weekend since 1934. It was that year that the Sisters and pilgrims celebrated the blessing of the then newly acquired Monastery for the Sisters.
In 1935, Pope Pius XI gifted the Sisters with a beautiful icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help requesting that they spread devotion to the Theotokos under that title.
The Pilgrimage is a source of ongoing renewal and provides for the diverse spiritual needs of the many pilgrims who frequent this major unifying event in the life of the Byzantine Catholic Church. Its participants include clergy and faithful from across the country. The Pilgrimage offers the celebration of Divine Liturgy; opportunities for the Mystery of Reconciliation; Anointing of the Sick; Adult Enrichment Programs; activities for children, teens, young adults; and pastoral counseling.
The Pilgrimage is the oldest and largest Byzantine Catholic Pilgrimage in the United States. The Sisters welcome all people of faith to share in this special ministry and in its many blessings.
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Fairfax, VA – The 28th Annual Orientale Lumen Conference will be held “in-person” and “virtual” on June 17-20, 2024, at the Washington Retreat Center near the St. John Paul II Shrine in Washington, DC. The theme will be “Primacy in the 21st Century” reflecting on the last three agreed statements of the Orthodox-Catholic Theological Dialogue: Ravenna in 2007 (Sacramental Nature of the Church), Chieti in 2006 (Synodality and Primacy During the First Millennium), and Alexandria in 2023 (Synodality and Primacy in the Second Millennium and Today).
The following speakers will give lectures: 1) Metropolitan Job of Pisidia, Orthodox Co-Chair of the international dialogue (remote); 2) Bishop John Michael Botean, Romanian Catholic Eparchy of Canton, OH; 3) Msgr. Paul McPartlan, Professor Emeritus of CUA, member of the international dialogue (remote); 4) Fr. Hyacinthe Destivelle, Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, The Vatican; 5) Fr. Radu Bordeianu, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA; 6) Fr Philip Halikias, World Council of Churches, Editor, Week of Prayer for Unity, Greek Orthodox. Fr. Nicolas Kazarian, Ecumenical Officer of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, will be the moderator. A question-and-answer discussion among speakers and in-person participants, with limited virtual chat-room questions, will follow each lecture.
The in-person conference will begin with dinner on Monday evening, June 17, and conclude with lunch on Thursday midday, June 20. Plenary sessions will be live streamed to virtual participants at 10:00 am, 3:00 pm, and 7:00 pm each day, EDT. Various non-eucharistic prayer services of the Byzantine tradition will be held throughout the conference.
The registration fees are the same for in-person or virtual attendees: $150.00 for 6 plenary sessions or 12 hours of lectures and discussion. Overnight accommodation is discounted to $75 per person per night until May 5th. The final deadline for registration is May 10th.
For over 25 years, the Orientale Lumen Conferences have brought together several hundred lay persons, diocesan and monastic clergy, with Church leaders, ecumenists and theologians, to learn from each other and develop ecumenical friendships. For the 10th anniversary conference, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew said: “Your sacred intent, therefore, is blessed from within and from above by the very nature of your initiative. For, while your effort may be – as you describe it – “grass roots,” we are convinced that it is at the same time rooted in heaven.”
Visit the conference website for more information and register online: https://olfoundation.net/upcoming-events/orientale-lumen-xxviii/
Jack Figel is the founder and annual chairman of these conferences, and received the Miller Award for Excellence in Ecumenical Leadership in 2023 from the National Council of Churches.
For an introduction to the Orientale Lumen “movement” view a short video here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnVgF1Sd2Mbkl7DCTD29FuQ
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Salihiya, Lebanon | 29 March 2024
“If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain.” (I Cor. 15: 40)
Resurrection is the foundation of Christianity. Hope of resurrection is expressed in the Creed that concludes, “We look for the resurrection of the dead.”
The tomb. The icon of the Resurrection is an invitation to resurrection, as we see the risen Christ holding the hand of humans, Adam and Eve, and lifting them up from the tomb.
The symbolism is clear: as a human being, you are also called to resurrection and every Sunday of the year is a celebration of the Resurrection in our Eastern tradition. This is because the resurrection is central to Christian life, and the focus of all life.
We are exposed every day to death, physically and morally, through illness and its effects and sins of all sorts.
And today we remember the great tragedy of our brothers and sisters in Palestine – in Gaza and the West Bank, in Jerusalem and South Lebanon.
We are summoned to resist every day death and its transgressions in body and soul.
Thus, we pursue the way of a lasting, ever-new resurrection – for resurrection is new life – rising, being raised to new perspectives, hopes and love, longings for visions of kindness, rectitude and holiness.
To this resurrection you are called, and so you participate in the Resurrection of Christ – and you too, will have a resurrection.
Happy Feast, brothers and sisters, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed.
Gregorios III
Patriarch Emeritus
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