JOHN PAUL II WELCOMES SYNOD OF GREEK-CATHOLIC UKRAINIAN CHURCH

VATICAN CITY, FEB 3, 2003 (VIS) - Pope John Paul this morning welcomed members of the Permanent Synod of the Greek-Catholic Church, in particular their major archbishop, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, and told them that their meeting in Rome "is a happy occasion to reaffirm your communion with the Successor of Peter."

He remarked that their Church, "reborn after the tragic events of the last century, proceeds on the path of rebuilding with the awareness of its great spiritual legacy, of the fecund testimony of her martyrs and of the need to maintain at all levels a demeanor of dialogue, collaboration and communion."

He encouraged them to pursue this path and he underscored their recent meetings with bishops of the Latin rite which allowed everyone "to consider .... the pastoral questions that interest both communities. Such encounters are a practical application of that effective and affective communion that must guide the pastors of Christ's flock."

"Such communion," the Holy Father affirmed, "is all the more necessary if we reflect on the challenges that today's situation places before us: from the spiritual needs of broad segments of the population to the serious dilemma of emigration; from the pain of the least fortunate to problems in families; from the need for ecumenical dialogue to the desire for a greater integration in the European context."

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