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Every five years the Eparchial Bishop is obliged to visit Rome. This visit is called the Ad Limina visit because the Bishops are to go to the threshold (in Latin: ad limina) to venerate the tombs of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul as well as present to the Holy Father a report on the state of their Eparchies. From March 7 until March 14, the Bishops of the Metropolia of Pittsburgh traveled to Rome for their Ad Limina visits. In the company of the Latin Bishops from Region II of the United States (Pennsylvania and New Jersey), our Bishops made the pilgrimage to the tombs of Peter and Paul and had an audience with the Holy Father.
Our Bishops were lodged at the Domus Sanctae Martae inside the Vatican to the left and back of St. Peter's Basilica. This building was built as a residence and guest house and also as a place for lodging the Cardinals in future conclaves. The Daughters of St. Vincent de Paul operate the Domus with great dedication and attention to the needs of those residing there. Many of the Sisters were from Slovakia and enjoyed speaking with our Bishops.
Our Bishops joined the Bishops of Region II for Mass at the tomb of St. Peter at the Vatican on Monday and on Thursday at St. Paul's Outside the Walls. Monday afternoon saw our Bishops at lunch with the Holy Father. On Thursday morning they concelebrated Mass with the Holy Father in his private chapel. After Mass, the Holy Father distributed copies of his message to them.
As part of the week's activities our Bishops also went for briefings at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Catholic Education, and Bishops. Each Bishop was free to go to any one of the Congregations to meet and speak with those in charge.
The most important meetings took place on Wednesday and Friday with the Congregation for the Eastern Churches. Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, the Prefect of this Congregation, chaired a meeting with our Bishops during which many topics were discussed concerning the Metropolia. On Friday, each Bishop had a half hour meeting-one on one-with Cardinal Silvestrini. At this meeting each Bishop had the opportunity to discuss his own concerns for his Eparchy with the Cardinal.
Bishop George spent the first four days of his Ad Limina visit confined to his room due to a fall he took at the Rome airport the previous Saturday. He was, however, able to participate in the special meetings at the Congregation for the Eastern Churches and to make his private visit to the Holy Father on Friday evening. Bishop George reflected, "It was interesting to see how much the Congregation knows about our Particular Church and the high esteem in which we are held. Our openness to all peoples, our work at liturgical renewal, and the establishment of new monasteries especially in our Eparchy were raised. I came away from our meetings with a renewed enthusiasm for our Church and its future in the United States. We are moving in the right direction. Cardinal Silvestrini encouraged us to continue on our course of renewal."
Bishop George, who was accompanied by the Protosyncellus,
the Right Reverend Archimandrite Wesley Izer, returned from Rome on Sunday,
March 15.
[The Holy Father gave an address following the concelebrated Mass on Thursday, March 12, 1998 in his private chapel with the Eastern Bishops of the Pittsburgh Metropolia, the Ukrainian Bishops of the United States and the Bishops of Region II. The following is an excerpt from this address:]
The Church in the United States has been enriched by a great diversity of expressions of faith found among the people of different ethnic backgrounds.
This rich diversity indicates that the Church is catholic in the full sense, embracing all peoples and cultures. Yet the Church, with all her different members, remains the one Body of Christ. Diversity in the Church must serve the unity of the one faith, the one baptism (cf. Eph 4:5), so that "speaking the truth in love, we grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together...builds itself up in love" (Eph. 4:15-16). Respect for a specific culture and tradition must always be accompanied by faithfulness to the essential truth of the Gospel as passed down in the teaching of the Church.
A particularly rich form of the diversity which builds up the Body of Christ is found in the Eastern Catholic Churches present alongside the Latin Church in many parts of your country. I am especially pleased to greet the Archeparch and Eparchs taking part in this ad limina visit. The Eastern Catholics who live in the United States constitute a natural bridge between East and West. On the one hand they make known by direct experience the Christian East and, on the other, they contribute to the development of the Eastern Churches in their countries of origin by witnessing to the acquisitions of the West and by providing spiritual and material support for people in their homeland. In order to fulfill this twofold task, it is essential that they maintain and deepen the sense of belonging to their specific ecclesial tradition, making use of the indications offered in the Instruction for the Application of the Liturgical Prescriptions of the Code of Canon Law of the Eastern Churches, issued by the Congregation for the Eastern Churches.
The Pastors of the Eastern Churches face new and
demanding challenges in ensuring that the faithful recently arrived in
the Unites States are properly integrated into their respective ecclesial
communities. Serious consideration must also be given to ways of
addressing problems arising from the dispersal of the faithful, who continue
to leave the areas where their community was traditionally present and
where their ecclesial identity was more easily preserved, to live in other
parts of the country.
These aspects highlight the great need for close
collaboration between Latin and Eastern Bishops in order to safeguard and
guarantee the legitimate diversity which constitutes the richness of the
Church's universality. I urge my Brother Bishops of the Latin Church
to foster greater knowledge and appreciation of the Eastern heritage which
is an integral part of the Catholic expression of the faith. In this
way all the faithful will have a more thorough understanding of the Christian
experience, and the Catholic community will be capable of giving a more
complete Christian response to the expectations of the men and women of
today (cf. Apostolic Letter Orientale Lumen, 5)....
Entrusting you and all whom you serve to the maternal
care of Mary,
I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing.
Reverend Joseph Hutsko and the parishioners at Holy Protection Church in Denver are on the move again improving their church. Devon O'Donnell donated a beautiful oak chair with Southwest upholstery to the church for use as the Bishop's throne behind the altar. Also a serene shade of blue was painted on the back wall of the sanctuary thus highlighting the icon of Our Lady as well as the iconostasis.
Parishioners are also anxious to improve the front
of the church by installing brick planters. All in all these
projects will make Holy Protection shine a little bit brighter for the
Lord!
April 9-17 Pastoral Center Closed
[Holy Week and Bright Week]
April 18-19 *Pastoral Visitation
St. Thomas the Apostle, Gilbert
April 20 Deacon Formation Committee Meeting
Pastoral Center, Phoenix, Arizona
April 21-22 Consultors' Meeting
Pastoral Center, Phoenix, Arizona
April 25-26 *Pastoral Visitation
St. George Mission, Olympia
April 26 Home Mission Collection
May 11-14 Intereparchial Liturgical Commission
Meeting
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
May 16 GCU Divine Liturgy
Showboat Hotel, Las Vegas
May 17 Casa Guadalupe 10th Anniversary
Monasterio del Buen Pastor, Tijuana, Mexico
June 1-5 Eparchial Clergy and Religious Conference
St. Stephen Pro-Cathedral, Phoenix
* Protosyncellus Schedule
Over the past few months, Father Joseph Hutsko and Parishioners of Holy Protection Church in Denver have been carefully watching the progress of the pussy willows growing around the church. A dry and relatively warm winter has stepped up the growing process, thus forcing the pussy willows to be cut earlier than usual. Under Father Joe's watchful eye, the willows have been cut and prepared for Flowery-Palm Sunday. Holy Protection also exports pussy willows to our churches in Tucson, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Colorado Springs, thus ensuring the continuance of another tradition for our Church!
April 8 - Holy and Great Wednesday: 7:30 PM
Liturgy of the Pre-Sanctified Gifts
Holy Anointing of the Sick
April 9 - Holy and Great Thursday: 7:30 PM
Hierarchical Vespers
Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great
Consecration of the Holy Myron
April 10 - Holy and Great Friday: 7:30 PM
Hierarchical Vespers
Burial Procession
April 11 - Holy and Great Saturday: 5:00 PM
Hierarchical Vespers
Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great
Blessing of Easter Baskets
April 12 - The Resurrection of Our Lord: 9:00
AM
Hierarchical Resurrection Matins
Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom
Blessing of Easter Baskets
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish played host to the second venture of the Eastern Catholic Churches of Arizona on Saturday March 14, 1998. The Ukrainian Catholic Church under the pastor, Rev. Hugo Soutus, provided the setting for the Day of Recollection directed by Rev. Myron Panchuk of Chicago.
The program, which required the interaction of the participants, gave the faithful of the 4 member churches (Chaldean, Melkite, Ruthenian and Ukrainian) the opportunity to share their ideas on current spirituality. Each participant was asked to find a partner from a different church for the sharing.
A pot-luck luncheon was provided, giving the members the chance to experience various ethnic foods.
The day concluded with the celebration of the
Vesper service.
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