Archive >>

On October 19, 2007, the pastoral visit to Russia of Most Rev. Bishop Stepan (Meniok), exarch of Donetsk and Kharkiv, came to its conclusion. During the visit, which was blessed by His Beatitude Lubomyr, the Major Archbishop of Kyiv and Halych, Bishop Stepan visited the cities of Novokuznetsk, Prokopevsk, and Kemerovo, where he met with faithful and clergy. The main stop of the visit was the city of Novokuznetsk, which is situated on Kuzbas, where the first Catholic church in Russia built in the Byzantine style was blessed.

The church blessing took place on the Feast of Mary's Protection. Bishop Stepan performed the blessing ceremony with Most Rev. Bishop Joseph Werth, the ordinary for Catholics of the Byzantine rite on the territory of the Russian Federation. Also participating in the festivities were: Fr. Aleksey Barannikov, pastor and builder of the church, Mons. Ante Jozycz, first secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature in Russia, about 20 priests of the Byzantine and Latin rites, representatives of the local government, and numerous faithful.

Seminarians of Holy Spirit Seminary in Lviv, Ukraine, helped in organizing the event and at the ceremony blessing the church of St. John Chrysostom. Their prayerful cantoring inspired the hearts of numerous guests. After the conclusion of the celebration, the seminarians agreed to assist priests who minister in the north, the Tiumen Region, especially in places where UGCC faithful are concentrated, such as Megion, Nyzhnievartovsk, and Surgut.

“We should not assess the blessing of the first Catholic church on the territory of Russia built in the Byzantine style as an act of proselytism. Because there are more than a million Ukrainians who live in Russia, and there are many Greek-Catholics among them. Thus, precisely for them will this church serve.” So Bishop Stepan commented on the event.

Information Department of the UGCC