Annual Report. PATRIARCHAL CURIA UGCC 2019

6 Greetings from the UGCC Patriarchal Curia Dear Donors and Benefactors, Dear Friends in Christ, We would like to share with you the 2019 Annual Report prepared by the Patriarchal Curia of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. It has been another year of grace for our Church both in Ukraine and around the world. In 2019 we commemorated in a special way the 30th anniversary of the emergence of our Church from its clandestine existenc e. Exactly 30 years ago, in 1989, after the historic meeting between St. Pope John Paul II and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, a decree was issued in the Ukrainian Soviet Rada that allowed re- ligious groups to register with government authorities and that was a major step to allowing the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, which was persecuted by the Soviet regime, the right to develop its administrative and pastoral structures and establish parishes. Also in 1989, unexpectedly and to the astonishment of the West, millions of faithful, led by a small group of bishops, priests and religious, emerged from the underground church and publicly declared their membership in the Catholic communion. Since 1945-46, thanks to the sacrifices and heroic leadership of these bishops, clergy and religious, for over a half century they were able to persevere in their faith in Jesus Christ and pre- serve the venerable religious traditions of their ancestors. Today, while reflecting on our Church’s emergence from its almost 50-years of forced, clandestine existence, 1989 was also a time of excitement and expectation of great things to come. We were so hopeful and filled with joy because we were not alone in our struggles of rebuilding our pastoral and administrative structures in Ukraine. We had the solidarity and friendship of many wonderful partners and benefactors who committed to making the journey with us. The groundwork established in the 1990s by Patriarch Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky enabled the growth and maturity of the Curia in the first decade of this century under the leadership of Patriarch Lubomyr Husar. That leadership and vision has continued to grow, flourish, and modernize with His Beatitude Patriarch Sviatoslav’s guidance . Greet ings f rom the UGCC Pat r iarchal Cur ia