Ukrainian Orthodox Delegation Meets CCCB Representatives

Friday, December 05 2008

(CCCB – Ottawa)… A delegation representing the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine, Metropolitan Volodymyr (Sabodan), met with representatives of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), at the CCCB offices on 1 December 2008.

From left to right: Very Rev. Mykolay Danylevych, Rev. Peter Galadza, Mother Seraphima and Very Rev. Kyrylo Hovorum.

The purpose of the visit to Canada was to promote and encourage better understanding of Ukrainian Orthodox culture, while the visit to the CCCB offices was to foster dialogue between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church in Canada. The delegation was headed by the Very Reverend Archimandrite Kyrylo Hovorun, Chair of the Department of External Church Relations of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The delegation also included Very Reverend Mykolay Danylevych, Vice Chair of the Department of External Church Relations, and Mother Seraphima, Abbess of St. Michael’s Convent, Odessa, Ukraine, and Chair of the Commission for Church and Culture.

The CCCB was represented by Most Reverend Brendan O’Brien, Archbishop of Kingston and a former President of the Conference; General Secretary Msgr. Mario Paquette, P.H.; Associate General Secretary Mr. Bede Hubbard, and Dr. Sylvain Destrempes, Senior Theological Advisor. Dr. Destrempes is one of two CCCB representatives on the North American Orthodox – Catholic Theological Consultation, as well as serving as CCCB staff on the Canadian Orthodox – Catholic Bishops’ Dialogue. Rev. Peter Galadza, Professor of Liturgy in the Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, facilitated the meeting and provided translation services. Father Galadza is the other CCCB representative on the North American Orthodox – Catholic Theological Consultation.

From left to right: Msgr. Mario Paquette, P.H., General Secretary of the CCCB; Very Rev. Kyrylo Hovorum; Most Rev. Brendan O’Brien, Archbishop of Kingston ; Mother Seraphima; and center) and Very Rev. Mykolay Danylevych.

That same evening, the Ukrainian Orthodox delegation formally presented two facsimile copies of the 16th-century Peresopnytsia Gospel book, the first translation of the Gospels to include elements of modern Ukrainian. One facsimile copy was presented to the library of Saint Paul University, Ottawa; the other to the Library of Parliament. The presentations were made in the Parliament buildings, with the guests of honour including the Most Reverend Seraphim, Archbishop of Canada of the Orthodox Church in America; His Excellency Ihor Ostash, Ukrainian Ambassador to Canada; the Honorable Peter Milliken, Speaker of the House of Commons; and Mr. James Bezan, member of Parliament for Selkirk — Interlake, Manitoba.